Lacuna and the Unconsecrated
by kilah234
Summary: Before there were the Unconsecrated, there were humans. But how did the Unconsecrated begin? This story tells of a girl who experiences the zombie apocalypse and her struggles to survive during the beginning of the Forest of Hands and Teeth.
1. Chapter 1

Before the world became infested with the Unconsecrated, the world was infested with science. Lots of it. Scientists had begun experimenting with human genes, trying to make humans perfect, and then more than perfect. Superman perfect, but they failed at that. So they tried another approach.

They could bend the genes, making them this way or that, however they pleased. Parents had begun to pay for their child's characteristics. If they wanted their child to have blond hair and blue eyes, they could. A decade later, scientist had an urge to eliminate diseases, but they made a mistake. They didn't even bother to experiment on animals. Instead, they went straight to working on humans. And everything went wrong.

(^._.^)

"Wake up, Lacuna! You have school today!"

I groaned and rolled over in my bed, smacking my hand over my eyes. I was dreading school that day. Well, I dreaded school every day, but it was going to be slightly worse. We had to take a field trip to the National Scientific Research Facility, and after that we had to take a test on what we had seen and heard. And,even worse, my mom worked there. She could be so embarrassing.

Hopefully I wouldn't run into my mom, but I had other things to worry about, like being on time. I checked the clock on my nightstand; 6:45. _Oh shoot!_ The train that I took would arrive there in less than 10 minutes! And I couldn't be late to school...again. Due to my lack of a car I already had 4 late slips, and one more would be detention. If I got a detention, I would be dead meat, literally.

I sprang up off my bed and quickly changed into jeans and a dark green shirt- I had no time for a shower. I headed to my bathroom and quickly brushed my teeth, pulled my hair up in a ponytail, while grabbing my bookbag (stuffed with books bigger than dictionaires). Then I rushed downstairs, gave my mom a kiss, and scuttled out the door.

My neighborhood wasn't fancy at all and it was very crowded, with so many winding intersections that could make a person get lost in a matter of seconds. To my left, was the road that signaled the end of my neighborhood. I was so thankful we lived close to it. If not, I was likely to get lost which would add to my lateness. I began jogging, setting a good pace to arrive on time.

I ran past people, shops, and buildings, accidently bumping into a few pedestrians, to the subway, which was half a mile away. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me past multiple, busy restaurants, stores, and fast-food places, stopping a few times to wave at old friends. Old as in seniors. But it was a exhausting run- I really needed a car. Unfortuanently, I was poor, so I couldn't even afford to take a shuttle bus to the subway, which made me even more late.

Soon, due to my quick pace, I arrived at the subway entrance leading down into chaos. I slid to a stop when I got down the stairs, slowing to a walk. I panted, sweat trickling down my face, and walked to the turn stile to scan my subway card. I walked to the shortest line that I saw, which was over 15 people long, and waited. And waited...and waited... _Come on, come on, come on._

They were taking so long, and I wasn't a patient person. I leaned sideways to see how many people were in front of me and found, to my dislike, that 6 people were. _ARGH! _I prayed silently to myself, wishing that the train would be late.

After a few more minutes of waiting, it was my turn to scan my card. I roamed my fingers over my neck, searching for the necklace that held my card, but my fingers found nothing. I panicked. Had I lost it somewhere? Did it drop while I was running? I replayed waking up in my bed, running to the bathroom, coming out of the bathroom and setting my toothbrush on the desk that was empty save my...train card. I had left it at my house. I almost fainted, but someone saved me.

"Excuse me?" A male voice called from behind me.

I turned, almost fainting again. There stood a boy, around my age, glaring at me. I took in his gray eyes, dark hair, his strong jaw, and perfect lips. He was beautiful and I couldn't look away.

"Excuse me?" He said again. His voice pulled me out of my trance.

I blinked a couple of times before answering. "Yes?"

"Are you having a little trouble? The line is getting a little long and the train will be here soon." He didn't sound mad at me, but I knew he did not want to miss the train.

"Oh, um..I kind of forgot my card, so I can't get through." I was sure he thought I was a klutz.

He grinned. "That happens to me all the time." What happened next shocked me. He leaned over me and reached his arm out towards the scanner, I almost sniffed him; scanning his card. I gaped at him wondering why he would risk getting a fine just for a stranger. Just for me. He just made an illegal act. Then the light on the turn stile blinked green, stalling my thoughts, and signaling we could go through. Quickly, I walked through so he could pass then I turned back to thank him, but he was already gone.

(^._.^)

"So what did he look like?" Eve asked me. I replayed my morning including the guy at the subway but I didn't know that she would become obsessed over him. I wish someone would have warned me of that danger.

"He was tall, muscular, with gray eyes and..." I said.

"Gray!" Eve screamed. Everyone in the front of the bus looked back at us. I elbowed Eve and quieted her. "Oh, sorry."

"Yes, gray."

"That is so cool!"

"Well, yeah." I thought it was unique too since many people had blue, green, or brown eyes. Not gray.

"So he was handsome?" Eve went on and on like that for the rest of the bus ride to NSRF, National Scientific Research Facility, and I was thankful when we finally got there. The bus schreeched to a stop at the front of the building and the teacher at the front stood up.

"So," the teacher began. "The rules are simple. We stay in a single file line, not hand in hand with your best freind. No wandering around." He pointedly glared at Marcus, the boy who was known for randomly getting up in class and going to the bathroom. People snickered. "Anyway. You all will listen to which ever guide you have, and you will stay quiet. If we catch you playing around, you _will _have Saturday school. We'll have our lunch break, where you'll be able to go the restroom. And at 12:00 we will be heading back to the school. Any questions?" No one raised there hand. "Okay then. Let's file out!"

We got up simultaneously, and headed out of the bus. When we arrived in the building, we seperated into three groups, and luckily I was with Eve. Our guide, a woman in her middle age named Mrs. Peregrine, directed us through a door and into a huge lab. Scattered across the room were what looked like operating tables. I stood there, confused, was this also a hospital? There was also a big Delax screen on a table in the middle of the room, surrounded by tables, the biggest I had ever seen. Delax screens were similar to the TV's they had used in the early 21st century, but instead they were transparent, pencil thin, and had touch screens.

"Okay," Mrs. Peregrine said. "You will be watching a video about what we work on here and how we do it on the Delax. It will take about a half and hour and after that I will allow you too ask questions then lunch time." The thought of food made my stomach rumble. I hadn't had any food since the day before. We filed into the chairs, which took an excessive amount of time, then the video began.

(^._.^)

After the video finished and the questions got answered, we went into the big cafeteria. Some of the other students in the two other groups were already eating their food, which encouraged me to rush and get my food. I scurried to the buffet and grabbed a tray.

"Jeez, Lucana. Hungry much?" Eve said, grabbing a tray beside me.

I ignored her and continued gathering my food. I stacked pizza, pasta, pineapples, and milk onto my tray and looked for an empty table. There were none. I felt Eve standing by me.

"Maybe we can sit with him," Eve said, nudging her tray to the left.

I looked where she pointed and saw a guy sitting alone in the far left corner. His back was to us, and I saw an open book on the table in front of him. No food in sight. Maybe he had already eaten.

"Okay." I said, and began to walk to the table. We walked to the other side of the guy and set our trays down. I sat on the bench and finally got to examine the guy across from me. I gasped.

It was him.


	2. Chapter 2

"Lacuna, what's wrong?" Eve asked me as I gazed at the boy.

"Nothing," I said, looking back down at my food. Eve eyed me curiously, shrugged, and then began eating her food. I looked back up at the boy, only to discover that he was looking at me, and he was smiling. I smiled back at him.

"Hey," I said, hoping he'd remember me.

"Hey," He replied. I melted. Eve looked up at us, suspicion written all over her face. She narrowed her eyes and the boy, studying his face, and her eyes went wide.

"That guy has gray eyes," she whispered to me. I rolled my eyes. She certainly could state the obvious. "And he's handsome. Is he that one guy?"

"What one guy?" I looked up at the boy and blushed furiously, realizing that he had heard our whole conversation. I couldn't tell him he was handsome, even though he probably already realized it, and that I babbled on to Eve about him. _Seems like you're obsessed. _Well I could, but that would be extremely embarrassing. Instead, I lied.

"Nothing," I said. Then I changed the subject. "By the way, thanks for helping me back at the subway." I gave him the best innocent, forget-what-we-just-said, smile I could muster. He fell for it.

"It was nothing, but it's not every day I get to meet a beautiful girl." He grinned mischievously and leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head. I opened my mouth, ready to say something back, but someone interrupted.

"Hey honey, hey Eve, hey Xavier!" A feminine voice called from my side.

I looked up to see my mom heading toward our table with a lunch tray. _Oh God_._ Kill me now. And please hurry up! _

I sighed in irritation. Hopefully my mom wouldn't embarrass me in front of Xavier.

My mom sat down across from Eve and me, next to Xavier, smiling like a child smiles at candy. It seemed like they already knew each other.

"Hello Miss Wither," Xavier said to my mother.

Eve just waved and smiled, then continued eating her lunch. She had experienced first hand how embarrassing my mother could be. Once, when Eve came over for dinner, my mom brought out baby pictures of me sitting in the bathtub; naked. And she had told of how I'd used to be afraid that monsters would come out of my closet at night. She had babbled all night long to Eve, who hadn't enjoyed it at all, of my most embarrassing moments. I had barely refrained myself from punching her in the face. Barely.

"So it seems that you have met Mrs. Peregrine's son." My mother said, smiling excitedly.

I studied her with her perfect brunette hair and like green eyes. She was a beauty, unlike me with my tangled brown hair, dark brown eyes, and unshapely body. My mother had curves, I didn't. I was a scrawny 17 year old with no figure, unlike Eve and my mom, who both had the perfect model figure. I had gotten my figure from my dad; who had died before I was born. He was K.I.A. Killed in Action. A great soldier that I never gotten to know.

"We actually met earlier, Miss Wither. At the subway," Xavier said.

"Oh?"

_Oh no... Oh no.._

I coughed. "Mom, what time is it?" I said, disturbing their conversation, even though there was a huge clock on the wall behind me. But I didn't want her to know I had left my card at home due to my lack of sleep. She would surely make my bedtime an hour or even two hours earlier.

"It's 11:20 now," she answered.

"Thanks." I said, and finally had the chance to dig into my food.

"And honey, there is a clock behind you."

_Honey? Seriously mom? You really had to call me that?_

I glanced back as if just noticing it. "Okay, thanks." I went back to eating my food. The amazing food. The pizza was delicious, with its extra extra cheese. The pasta tasted like it was made by a proffesional, by me, and the fruit was ripe and lucious. It was _way _better than what they fed us back at the highschool. _Way_ better. All they fed us what shit.

As in poop shit.

"So what do we have after this?" I asked my mom when I finished wolfing down my lunch.

"Well, you guys get to explore the devices we used in the past, and you get to see how it changed from then to now."

_She made it sound like we were going on a great adventure. Ugh. _

"Sounds..interesting," I lied. It sounded extremely boring.

"Lacuna, do you want me to take your trash?" Eve asked, and stood up.

"Sure, thank you." I thrusted my tray out at her and she took it, walking away from our table. I looked back at Xavier who had gone back to reading his book. My mom was still working on her plate.

"So, Xavier, what school do you go to?" I asked.

Xavier looked up at me and smiled. I almost melted. Again. _God, why did he have to be so attractive? _

"I'm actually homeschooled. My aunt is a special women." He was lucky, too. He didn't have to deal with all the hustling and bustling in the school halls. He didn't have to deal with the school's nasty lunch, or deal with bullies and cocky girls.

I looked over at my mom, who was listening to our conversation. "Mom, can you homeschool me?"

She laughed, and I instantly knew the answer was going to be no. "Lacuna, I have a job. I can't homeschool you _and_ work for NSRF."

_Then quit your job, _I wanted to say, but didn't. Instead I groaned and looked back at Xavier. "Do you think your aunt can manage one more student?"

He laughed. "You'll have to take that up with my aunt."

"Hmph." _Yeah... no. _"So what book are you reading?" I leaned over and nodded at his book.

"Salem's Lot."

I gave him a questioning look. I have never heard of Salem's Lot.

"It's by Stephen King," he said. I'd heard of Stephen King, but had never took any time to read his books. Reading my mind, Xavier said,"Not too many people read his books. I don't know why, they're the best ever. They're classics too."

"Hey, I hate to break it up, but lunch time is over."

I looked up at Eve, who was back, and she motioned to the other tables. They were empty and kids were heading toward their guides.

"Oh," I muttered, standing up, and following Eve. "Bye mom, by Xavier." I waved at them and they both waved back. We headed over to our guide, who was telling us about our next stop.

"He's smoking hot, Lacuna," Eve whispered to me. "And I think he.."

I glared pointedly at Eve, shutting her up.

(^._.^)

"So how'd you like your field trip?" My mom asked me, folding up some towels on the couch.

I flipped through a few channels before answering her. "It was fine."

_Fine as in extremely boring. _

She smiled. "And how'd you like that Xavier boy?"

I groaned inwardly. Eve, now my mom. "He's cool."

"Well, did you like anything at the NSRF?"

I turned the sound on the Delax up.

"The big Delax screen was cool. We should get one of those." All we had was a small, puny, screen.

She laughed.

_And that's a negative. _

"I wish I could get one of those, honey, but do you know how much those cost? Probably more than this house."

I sighed. It most likely did cost more than our house. Our house was built like the ones from the early 21st century, instead of the newer, sleeker, condo-like homes. Ours was a medium 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house with no pool, unlike what most had. Our house was abnornal. Speaking of abnormal, the NSRF had some secrets that I wanted to know about.

"Mom, what was in that one door?" I asked. After lunch, we had passed through a hallway where they stored some of the vintage devices, and at the far end of the hallway stood a door. It didn't look like any regular door, though, since it was made out of metal and it had thick rods running across it. It didn't seem like they were trying to keep people from going in, but keeping something from going out. And I was a person who wanted to know all secrets, all mysteries.

The design was cool to. Maybe I could make a room like that and lock Eve and my mom inside.

"What door?"

"The one that was off limits." A look of dismay crossed her face, but then it was gone.

"Oh there's nothing behind that door honey except for a few dangerous chemicals." She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. I frowned, wondering why would they have a heavy metal door just for dangerous chemicals. Maybe they had something nuclear in there, something illegal. It seemed very peculiar, and I wanted to find out more. Maybe, one day, I would.

**What do you think is behind that door? Find out in the next few chapters! **


	3. Chapter 3

"Come on, Eve," I said, creeping through the halls of NSRF. I had found Moms security pass and decided to do some exploring. Might as well. I was bored anyway.

I didn't want to go alone so I convinced Eve to tag along. She hadn't been very willing.

"Why are we doing this? I don't think this is a good idea," Eve said. I looked back at her, and she was looking around warily. I couldn't blame her though, NSRF was really creepy at night, and that excluded the gaurds they had. Dim, blue lights shined down on us, but gave little light. I could barely see my hands in front of me. Suddenly I heard a shoe squeak and stopped, causing Eve to bump into me. I held my hand up to silence her, and flattened my body against the wall. A second later, a gaurd walked past us in the perpendicular hallway, then dissapeared behind a door.

"Why does he have a gun?" Eve asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know, but let's find out," I answered.

I turned into the perpendicular hallway that led us past the lunch room, where we had met Xavier, and into the hallway we had visited on the field trip. I stopped when we were yards away from the big, menacing door. Red lights shined from the slabs that lined it, and I stepped up to it. I studied the door, looking for a way to open it, and my eyes soon found the keypad to the right of the door. I swore. I didn't know the code, so the door wouldn't get opened.

I turned back to Eve. "Any ideas?"

She shook her head. "We should just go. There's no luck getting this door opened."

I sighed, she was right. But maybe I could try getting the right code. I turned back to the keypad and typed in the numbers of my birthday. Maybe my mother had designed the password. But a few seconds later, the keypad blinked red, signaling it was the wrong code.

I swore and tried my mothers birthday. But this time the keypad didn't only blink red. Instead, an alarm filled the corridor and red lights flashed overhead. I swore again and grabbed Eve by the arm. The gaurds would be there any minute. We sprinted down the hallway and into the lunch room, but stopped abruptly as lights reined down on us, and I realized that we were caught. Goodbye cell phone. Goodbye Delax screen. Goodbye life.

(^._.^)

The police drove us down to the station and began questioning us. I tried to tell them that Eve was not part of this but they didn't listen to me, they just continued on with the questions.

"So why were you two young ladies at the NSRF tonight?" Officer Mcdouw grabbed a chair, positioned it backwards, and sat down. Officer Mcdouw was one of the lead detectives in the police force. One of the confusing things was why he was questioning us, a couple of teenagers.

"I already told you. I had left something there and we went back to get it," I lied.

"And your mother, who works there, couldn't have gotten it another day?"

I quickly made something up in my mind. "I needed it tonight."

"Tell me, then, how you managed to set off the alarm?"

"Um, I accidently bumped into the keypad and it set off."

"Hmph, young lady, you're good at lying. But.." Yelling cut him off, and my mom stormed in his office. My eyes widened at her state. She was still dressed in her pink robe and beige night gown and her purse was slung over her shoulder. But that wasn't what disturbed me the most. Her face was red with rage and her hands were clenched into fist, like she was going to hit someone. And that someone might've been me. Her eyes locked on me, and I recoiled. If looks could kill, I would be dead.

"Come on girls, we're going home," she said to Eve and I. Then she turned to Officer Mcdouw. "I'll take care of this." He looked as if he wanted to argue but instead, he just nodded. He obviously didn't want to mess with a rom. A raging mom. My mother looked back at us and motioned for us to go. As I walked past my mother, she glared at me, causing me to flinch. No wonder they say curiousity killed the cat.

(^._.^)

After we had dropped Eve off and got home, my mom grounded me for a whole month. No TV, no hanging with Eve, no internet save for homework, and my new bedtime was at 8:00. I was 17, and my bedtime was at 8. At least I could keep my cell phone. After my mothers lecture, I groggily trudged up the stairs, into my room. I was exhausted from that day's havoc so I plopped down in my bed and closed my eyes.

Just as I was about to drift away, something came in contact with my window. I froze and stared at my window. Then the sound came again. _Crack. _Slowly, I stood up and walked to the window, pushing the curtains away. I squinted through the darkness then looked down. My eyes widened. _Eve? _

I quickly pulled up my window and leaned out slightly.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I called down to her. She didn't answer, instead she motioned to our front door.

I sighed and slipped out of my door then crept down my stairs toward my door. I typed in the code to open the door in the padlock and the door swung open, revealing Eve, with her duffle bag, blanket, and sleeping bag.

"Hey," she said, slipping by me and walking up the stairs to my room. Confused, I followed her.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her.

"Well, Lacuna, you got me kicked out of my house." She set her duffle bag down on my carpet and unrolled her sleeping bag.

"Wait, you're telling me your parents kicked you out?"

She sighed and slipped into her sleeping bag. "Do I have to repeat everything twice? All because of you, I got kicked out of my house."

"Oh." I didn't know what else to say. Instead, I plopped down in my bed and crossed my legs. "So, you wanna talk about it?"

She let out a groan. "No, I don't. At least, I don't want to talk to you. I'm sleepy and pissed off."

That hit me like a punch, but I tried to keep my tears from falling. I was losing my best friend. "Fine then." I pulled the covers over top of me and clapped, turning off the lights.

**Lacuna didn't get to find out what was behind that door and her life is slowing falling apart; mentally, socialy, and maybe soon, physically. **


	4. Chapter 4

I sat at the school lunch table alone, picking at the watery macaroni, stale bread, and rotten apple. I felt the stares of my fellow students on me, but I ignored them and stared down at my food. Word had gotten around of my arrest, and Eve had begun hanging out with others to avoid me. She even moved out of my house, and went to another. My life was miserable. I didn't have any friends, everyone was either mad at me or disgusted, and when my mom had heard Eve got kicked out, she extended my ground to 2 months. I regretted the incident with NSRF all the way, but it still didn't wipe away my interest in the door. But discovering what was behind the door was a lost cause.

I sighed, stood up, and walked to throw my trash away. Then I went back to the table to retrieve my bookbag. I picked it up and at the last moment I notied the graffiti on my bookbag. There, in big black letters across my bookbag, was the word **CRIMINAL. **I gasped and the whole lunchroom errupted in laughter. It was a prank. I tried to keep the tears falling from my eyes as I walked out the lunchroom, but they poured out and I ran. I ran past lockers, classrooms, and out the door. I didn't care if any of the teachers, or even the principle, saw but I knew I needed to get away.

I headed toward home, even thought it was 3 full miles away, and my subway card was with my mom, who had made me ride with her to wherever I needed to go. I grumbled and trudged on, crossing roads and intersections. I saw something flash above me, and looked up. _Lightning. _Dark, cumulonimbus, clouds had rushed in and it began to drizzle. I cursed the weather. I didn't have an umbrella, and my house was more than a mile away. It began to pour, and then it began to rain cats and dogs. I began to see familiar sights and soon found the alleyway that served as a shortcut. I turned into it, but stopped, eyeing the man warily. He was leaning against the old, red, brick and smoking a cigarette. He was maybe in his 40s, had a spikey mohauwk, and wore baggy clothes. He turned, and eyed me back. I flinched; he was looking at me like I was prey. I slowly backed away, but he came at me. I turned and ran, but I was jerked back by my bookbag and fell against the ground. Rain cascaded into my eyes, blinding me for a second, then I scrambled backwards into the wall.

The man stood over me, and smirked. I frowned, this man was _not_ going to steal my money or do anything else to me. My day had already gone bad enough, and I didn't want it to get any worse. I swung my leg at the man's ankles, causing him to fall down on the ground. I leaped up and sprinted past him, but then I felt a hand land on my ankle and I fell face forward onto the hard cement. My head got the worst of the fall; it slammed into the ground and stars flashed in front of my eyes. I felt another pain in my wrist and tried to move it. I cried out in pain; my wrist was broken. But I would have to worry about that later. I glanced back at the man, who was struggling to stand up. He glared at me, pulling out a knife, then spoke.

"She took my son away, your mom." He knew my mom? "And now, I'm going to take you away from her." He lunged forward at me, ready to kill. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the impact, but it never came.

I cracked opened my eyes and gasped. It was Xavier. Xavier had tackled the man to the ground and was punching him constantly, even though the man looked knocked out. I tried to croak something out so he would stop, but I was too weak. I tried to crawl forward, but a sharp pain errupted in my wrist and I let out a groan of pain, then curled up on the cold, wet, ground. My whole body was in pain, especially my wrist and head.

"Lacuna?" I heard Xavier say. He knelt over me, slid his arms under me, and picked me up. I curled up in his arms and leaned my head against his chest. Then I drifted away.

(^._.^)

"Hey," I said to Eve, as I laid in my bed.

"Hello," she said, closing the door behind her. "I heard what happened, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry about what happened at school, earlier, too. They were being jerks. And I'm sorry about shunning you too." She looked down at the ground. I sighed.

"Apology accepted. Now come here." I held out my arms, and we hugged.

Xavier had taken me to the hospital after the incident, and when my wrist was fixed they sent me home. The man was arrested, and it turned out he was a former NSRF worker. The question though, was why he said my mother had taken his son. It wasn't like she was a criminal or anything. Or maybe he was referring to her adopting his son. But she hadn't done that either. So what had she done?

"So, I heard that your prince charming came and swept you off your feet!" Eve said, interrupted me from my thoughts. I blushed at the thought of Xavier being my prince charming.

"Well, I wouldn't word it like that. He did save me, but he is _not_ my prince charming."

"Oh, come on. You know you like him," she teased.

"No, I don't." I lied. I still wasn't sure of my feelings toward Xavier.

"Ugh, whatever. So where is he anyways? Why didn't he stay here and comfort you or something?"

"He's with his mom at their place. And it's not like he would stay here with _me_ when I'm basically a stranger."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what do you want to do?" Eve hopped onto my bed. "Your mom said I could sleep over here if I wanted to, so I am, and you cannot argue."

I groaned. "You can stay if you don't badger me about Xavier." She rolled her eyes. "We can watch some movies if you wanna. Or we can just chat. Whatever you want."

"Okay, movie it is." She stood up and walked toward my book and movie shelf, skimming for what movie to watch. "Ooh, I haven't seen this one." She pulled out _Black__ Trees_, a movie about the world coming to an end due to an alien invasion. "Is it good?" she asked me. I nodded. She slipped the CD into the TV's movie system, sat down at the foot of my bed, and the commercials began to play.

"How about some popcorn?" I asked her. She glanced back at me and smiled.

"That's a great idea." She stood. "I'll go get some." She left the room and skipped down the stairs. When I was sure she had gone, I swung my legs over the bed and crept across the hall; my mothers room. I peered in, and it was dark, a sign that she wasn't there. I sneaked past her blue bed and into her little office, which used to be a closet. I glanced back, to make sure no one was there, and there wasn't. Then I went to her desk and began searching.

There wasn't anything important in the first two drawers, but in the third I found something that registered as odd. Pulling out the file, I opened it and found multiple papers transcripted with photos and names of random people I had never seen before. But the oddest thing was that the title was **TEST SUBJECTS PROJECT 19. **Were the people the test subjects? I had thought the NSRF didn't experiment on humans, but maybe I was wrong. Before I could search for other information, the doorbell rang. I jumped, and quickly shoved the papers back into the drawer. I rushed out of my mothers room, closing the door behind me, and stopping at the top stair that overlooked the front door.

"I'll get it!" Eve shouted. I climbed slowly down the stairs and into the foyer. Eve appeared from the kitchen, as I reached the floor, and opened the door. There stood Xavier.

His eyes swept from me to Eve, then back to me again. I could tell something was troubling him.

"Where's your mom?" He asked me. I was a little disappointed he had come for my mom; not me.

"She's..she's..somewhere. Do you want me to get her for you?" I didn't wait for him to answer. "Mom!" A few seconds later, my mom emerged from the bend. She looked at Xavier standing in the doorway.

"Hey Xavier, what's up?" She asked.

"Have you seen my mom lately?" He asked. It was an odd question. His mom should've been done with work and at home with him.

"No, I haven't. Why?"

"She called me while she was still at work, saying she wouldn't get home. And then the line went dead and I didn't know what had happened. She sounded like she was crying so I rushed over there and the place looked a mess. Glass was broken, things smashed, and there were no gaurds. It was like they had just..disappeared. But my mom wasn't there."

"Are you sure? Did you tell anyone else about this?"

"Yeah, I'm positive, but I didn't tell anyone except you guys."

"Okay, I need to call the others." She turned to us. "You guys stay here. Stay in here until I call you back," she paused, grabbing her purse. "If I call you back."

"Wait, mom. Where are you going?" I asked.

She turned to me, her eyes full of sadness. "I'm going to find Peregrine." Then to Xavier. "I'm sorry, but I have to do this."

And with that, she was gone.

**More to come, and the secret is revealed in the next few chapters. **


	5. Chapter 5

"I am _not_ going to stay here and do nothing while my mother is out there...somewhere," Xavier said to no one. Then he turned to me. "Do you have any idea what's going?"

"I..." I thought back to the papers I had found in my mothers office. That was something. "Here, follow me." I ran up the stairs, Xavier and Eve following me, then jogged into my moms office; stopping at the desk. Xavier and Eve crowded around me as I pulled out the papers.

"I found these right before you came," I said, passing the papers to them. "But I don't know that much about it. It seems like they're doing, or were doing, tests on these people maybe. Like, experimenting on them." I paused; waiting for any response.

"Wait, look at this," Xavier said, ushering to the papers; I stepped closer and peered over his side. Nothing intriguid me as I examined the papers.

"What?" I asked him.

"Look at this. Cope. Marcus Cope. Your attackers son." He pointed at a picture of a young man at the bottom of the page. He was right. The boys' last name was Cope, which was my attackers last name, _and_ he resembled my attacker. Something was up. _She took my son away, your mom... _the words flashed in my mind. I gasped, realizing that what he had said was true, in a way. But Cope knew something I didn't know, and I wanted to find out.

Straightening up, I stepped away from Xavier, who looked at me warily.

"Come on. We need to find more about this," I said, walking out the room. Xavier and Eve stood still in the room. "What? Are you guys glued to the ground or something?" I didn't wait for them to respond, instead I kept walking.

"Wait!" Eve called behind me; jogging to catch up. I stopped and turned around.

"What?" I asked.

"You never said where you were going."

"_We_, not just me. And _we're," _I smirked at how absurd it was going to sound coming out of my mouth. "We're going to jail."

(^._.^)

"I don't think this is a good idea," Eve said.

I sighed; Eve had been complaining for the last ten minutes without stopping and I was getting annoyed. I turned around to her and said, "I know this may sound bizarre and dangerous to you, but we need more information. Cope used to work for NSRF, so he must know something about what's going on."

She rolled her eyes. "He tried to kill you! So why are _you_ trying to negotiate with him? It's like you want to die!" A worried look crossed her face. "Wait. _Are _you trying to kill yourself?"

I laughed and rolled my eyes in return. "Why would I want to die, Eve? My life is good, for now. But I don't want to die! And I wouldn't want to die by some man who wants me dead. I mean, jeez, that sounds stupid." I turned back around, chuckling to myself. Then I turned to Xavier, who was driving. His gaze was fixed on the road. "So, how are we going to get in?" Xavier glanced at me before returning his attention to the road. Like Eve, he also thought it was a bad idea. We hadn't come up with a plan yet, even though we were less than five minutes from the police station. There were going to be police there, but hopefully not that many. Somehow, we had to get past them and into the few holding cells they had. Then we would have to buy time to get answers from him, and escape without being caught. It was easier said than done.

"We're risking a lot, Lacuna. Cope tried to kill you, like Eve said, so he might try killing you again, _and_ we might get arrested. Are you sure you want to do this?" I nodded. "But anyway, I think we should take out whatever gaurds are on duty," he continued. "Hopefully there will be less than 5 gaurds. It will be easier that way. Do you think you can knock a police officer out if we encounter them?" He asked me.

My eyes widened. Hurting any of the police force was against the law and was punishable by fines or, depending on what condition the officer was in, by death. And I didn't want to die, but I had to risk it. "Yeah, but how?"

He sighed in frustration, realizing I couldn't fight. I had taken kung fu before, but we never practiced on real people save plastic dummies.

"Just..just stay behind me," he commanded.

"Okay," I said as we turned into the police station's parking lot. For some odd reason, the parking lot was packed with cars, not police cars. Xavier seemed to notice too, for his face hardened, but he kept driving and found a parking spot far from the building. When he stopped the car, he spoke.

"Okay, so obviously there's something going on here that I didn't know about before. But, we can't turn back now. So let's get in and get out." He got out of the car and we followed him to the building. The police station was pretty fancy; it was made mostly of glass, bullet proof that is, and it was pretty big since it housed 20 cells, all of which contained criminals at some point. As we got inside, we were bombarded by a swarm of bodies. Civilians swarmed around us, knocking us this way and that, and soon we were seperated from each other.

I tried shouting over the noise, but they didn't hear me. Nor, did I hear them, and I couldn't see over the crowds head. Why were they there anyway? I would have to find out. I turned to the lady nearest to me and tapped her on her shoulder, gaining her attention. She looked at me annoyingly and raised her eyebrows in question.

"Excuse me, but do you know why all these people are here?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes as if I should know, but answered. "There are a few complaints about some mysterious sightings in the area of 'demons' and some say there heard ominous sounds."

That was weird, but it might've had a connection with the NSRF. "Sounds, what kind of sounds?"

She smirked. "Moans. Maybe it was their next door neighbors getting it on." She winked at me, and I recoiled at her perverted comment. Some people had weird senses of humor.

I strode away from her toward the section of the building that held the cells, hoping to find Eve and Xavier waiting for me, but noone was there except for two armed officers gaurding the door. I sighed in frustration not only because Eve and Xavier weren't there, but because there were gaurds. Meaning I couldn't get through, but as I thought about it an old woman came up to them and pointed at the crowd then walking toward it, making them follow. _Just my luck. _That was my chance, and probably the only chance I would get, so I took it. I glanced around the crowd checking for onlookers, but there were none, so I scurried toward the door and dissapeared inside. The inside was not what I had imagined. Instead of dim, grimy, dusty walls and cells it was particularly clean and furnished. It was too good for a criminal to stay in, but I guessed they probably hadn't thought about that. The cells were numbered and in order along the adjacent wall, but through the bars I couldn't see anyone, until my gaze fell on cell 16; Cope. He sat on a low, wooden bench in the corner of the minature cell, head down. And as I crept closer I could tell he was weeping.

"Hello?" I said warily. He jerked his head up, halting his crying, and at the sight off me his eyes narrowed in disgust.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He snarled, angrily.

"I just need to ask you a few questions-" I began.

"I am not answering any of your questions when your mother destroyed him! I will not, never!"

"Shh, shh." I looked cautiously at the door, expecting for someone to burst in at his shouts, but no one came. I turned my attention back to Cope. "It's about NSRF. About what they're doing there. I'm not exactly sure what my mom's doing there, so can you tell me if they're doing any experiment like things on people? Please answer."

He laughed sharply, but it didn't reach his eyes. "You know why I got fired? Because I was trying to save my son. He was a perfect candidate for their tests; strong heart, clean blood, healthy organs. He had it all, so they took him, and I fought back. It didn't turn out well, as you can see. But they were trying to make him like superman. Great eyesight, quicker, stronger, disease resistant. But instead of making him superman, they made him something else, something sick. They should've killed him, then, since they couldn't find a cure and he was hopeless. But instead they kept him for experiments.

"Soon they caught me sneakinig around, figuring out their secrets, and I got sent to jail once already. But I haven't seen him since; my son. I'm partially glad about it, seeing him like that was too painful; but I'm sad too, I'll never see him again. Never... And all because of your mom! She was the one who decided to take him. She was the one who kill him."

"Killed? I thought you said he was alive."

"Bah! Not really. The new...virus took over his body, corrupting it. It killed almost all of his original cells swarming his body with the fatality. He looked dead; pale, fading, falling apart. Literally. But I couldn't do anything about it. I was, I am, stuck. And now-"

Screams from beyond the door interrupted him, startling me. What was happening? Then disturbing, ominous moans errupted from outside. I turned back to Cope, who was now frowning deeply, and staring straight at me.

Then he said, "They're here."

**More to come! **


	6. Chapter 6

"What?" I asked, wondering who exactly was there.

"Get me out of here," he said, ignoring my question.

Get him out of there? Why would I do that? But at the sound of gunshots, it seemed like if I left him there, he would be dead meat. And I still had many questions to ask him, so I decided that I would have to risk it. I examined the exterior of his cell, and to my disappointment, found a keypad. "I..I can't." I began. "I don't have the code for- "

"It's 6742. Hurry, they're getting closer."

"They?"

"Just come on! I'll tell you later when I get out of here!"

I snapped to attention from his shout, and typed the code in. Surprisingly, it worked. I wondered how he even knew the code, but then again, he had been in jail before. So he probably had learned some handy tricks. But then again, if he knew the code, why hadn't he escaped? Maybe he had thought the gaurds would shoot him on site, or he would be sentenced to prison for longer.

Cope stood up from his the low bench and started toward the bars. I backed away, still a little afraid of him. He _had _tried to kill me before, maybe he would try again, but it didn't seem like that was on his mind at the time. So I swung open the bars, letting him slip through and slide past me towards the gaurd door. I observed that he hadn't even looked at me once; he didn't care about me, he cared about getting out.

"Hey, wait up!" I hurried to catch up to him as he swung the door wide open; revealing the scene that lay beyond. I gasped. The station contained a significant amout of havoc than before. People jostled past each other, screamiing and shouting as they went. They trampled over each other, being callous of their peers. Gunshots added to the chaos, but I couldn't see where they were coming from. It must've been the police force and the gaurds, since they were nowhere in sight.

"Girl, come on!" Cope shouted, and grabbed my wrist, surprising me. He maneuvered us skillfully and quickly through the dense crowd. I craned my neck at the crowd; searching for Eve and Xavier, but it was like searching for a needle in a haystack, a moving haystack that is. Plus, Cope was moving at a quick pace, making it harder for me to get a glimpse of my surroundings. And soon, we made it to the door, where people pushed and pulled at us. But with Cope's stealth, we made it out in less than a minute.

"Do you have a car?" He asked me as we spilled out into the parking lot.

"No," I mumbled, catching a breath. "But my friends do. I just don't know where they are."

"Where'd they park?"

"Over there." I pointed to the far left. "The tan one. But they might still be inside. I'm not exactly sure."

"Okay, well let's check the car first. And let's hurry."

I suddenly got an idea that Cope was using me, using us. He was so fixated on getting out of there, and the only way he was going to do that was through me. But I didn't quite know his intentions, so I couldn't judge. Without warning; Cope jerked me harshly toward the car. What was clear was that he wanted go get the hell out of there, but he didn't have to do it violently. It had to stop.

"Woah, woah, woah," I said, jerking my arm from his hold. "Why am I even helping you? And why are you so eager to leave? What's up? Who's here?"

He groaned in frustration and looked over his shoulder, then back at me. "We don't have time for this. We have to go." A gunshot sliced through the silence, making me jump. He was right. I didn't want to encounter whoever, or whatever, was there. And I was sure he didn't want to either.

"Okay, come on." I jogged in front of him to the car. But it wasn't empty. Xavier and Eve popped out of the car with a relieved expression on Eves' face. I smiled at the sight of them together and in one peice. Eve smiled back and pulled me into a tight hug. Too tight.

"I can't breathe," I mumbled against her shoulder. She pulled away quickly, but continued holding me by my shoulders. Her eyes roamed over me, checking for any injuries.

"I'm sorry," said Eve. "I thought you were lost to us. What happened to you anyway?" I motioned at Cope, who stood stiffly behind me. Her gaze traveled past me and fixed on him; her eyes widened. "What is _he _doing here?" She spat the 'he' out in disgust, and it looked like she was going to kill him.

"He's with me, Eve." Her firery gaze rested onto me again. I could tell she thought I was stupid, and crazy, but she didn't know why I had him with me. "Eve, chill. He knows more about any of this than we do. So we need him. Okay?" She nodded stiffly. More gunshots fired in the distance.

"Lets go," Xavier commanded. He hadn't seemed all too excited that I was safe, but it might've been because Cope was with me.

"Okay, come on," I said to Eve and Cope.

We filed into the car, with Eve sitting shotgun. She had refused to sit in the backseat with Cope, so she had made me. I wasn't too excited about it because Cope smelled like cow shit, but Eve would've kicked him out of the car, and I couldn't risk that. I tried to breathe in the air closest to the window, for relief from the stench, but it didn't work so I began to roll down the window, but Cope stopped me. His hand clamped down on mine and he shook his head. I didn't understand what he was shaking his head at first, but then he nodded to the window, so I quickly put it up. I guessed he thought a window was better protection than nothing at all.

"Oh my God. Look at all this traffic. We're never going to get throught this," Xavier muttered. I looked at the street in front of us, conforming his statement. Ahead was a mess of cars; all honking and beeping, but it didn't help lessen the traffic. In fact, it made it slightly worse.

"Drive around them." Cope's voice was slightly monotone, and he was staring straight ahead.

"Well, as you may notice, there are no roads 'around' them, so I can't-"

"Do you think the grass will poke holes in your tires?" Cope interrupted. "Do you care that much about this piece of junk?" I winced at the harshness in his voice.

"Okay, that's it." Xavier turned around to face Cope. "Get out." Cope didn't even budge. "_Now_," Xavier added.

"Xavier..." I began. I still needed Cope, and he wasn't useful dead.

"No, Lucana. He tried to kill you. And now he's insulting my beauty when I did nothing to him!"

I almost laughed when he said beauty. His car was one of the oldest, ugliest, things on the planet. And he knew it, or should've. "Just give him a chance." I sent pleading looks to him with my eyes, and he gave in.

"Fine, but if he messes up again.." He didn't need to finish the sentence. We all knew he would either abandon him, or kill him.

"Thank you," I said. And I meant it. He didn't have to do anything for me. He still barely knew me, but it seemed like he cared. Even if it was just a little. "And going around wouldn't hurt," I added, making him groan.

"You agree with that guy?" He sounded aghast.

"No. But I think it would be smart to go around. We shouldn't waste valuable time sitting here, when we could be gone. So, do you want to stay with the danger, or get the hell out of here?" My eyes widened at how harsh my own voice came out, and I instantly regretted it. It was true, Xavier was being crude too, but only because he cared of our safety.

Xavier mumbled something I couldn't make out, but he obediently began to drive around the cars.

"Oh and Xavier?" I didn't wait for him to answer. "Go to NSRF... Please."

Since that was over, I turned to Cope for answers.

"Okay Cope. Now's the time to tell me what's going on. And no excuses," I said.

He hesitated. "Well, actually, I don't know what's going on." Before I could freak out and kill him, he went on. "I mean, I do, but I'm not completely sure."

"Then tell me what you think."

"Okay, but you might not like it. You remember how I told you about my son?" I nodded. "Well, he wasn't the only candidate. There were at least 20 of 'em; all ending up like him. And I fear that they might've escaped."

"And what effect does it have on us exactly?" I asked.

He frowned. "I'm pretty sure the disease can spread through a single bite. But that's not all. The Unconsecrated long for human flesh. I guess you could say they're cannibals."

"Unconsecrated?" I didn't understand why he called them that.

"Yeah. Unholy, ungodly. You know, the usual." It wasn't the usual. "But there also might just be a gang trying to kill the police." I snickered at how absurd that sounded. Why would anyone want to kill the police?

"We're here," Xavier said, coming to a stop. I glanced out the window to see NSRF rising above us. The lights were on inside, meaning someone was in there, and looking around the parking lot, I saw my mothers car parked there, waiting for her.

"Let's go," I said, and got ready to open the door, but suddenly something banged into Cope's window.

I jumped and turned and found myself staring at a hideous human man. Or what used to be a human. Blood seeped out from multiple open wounds on its' pale, flaking, skin. It's face was covered in warts and sagged;its hospital gown hanging in tatters. There wasn't a single hair on its' head and its' eyes had sunken in. I even caught a glimpse of bone on the bare skin. My stomach turned in disgust, threatening to empty itself. The creature was a catastrophe, it was Unconsecrated, it was-

"Marcus."


	7. Chapter 7

My head whipped to Cope- who was mesmerized with it, with Marcus- as he said his sons' name, but before I could register anything else Eve let out a cry of fear, and Xavier pounded his foot down on the gas, causing us to jerk forward. With my seatbelt off, I jerked sideways, pummeling my head into the window. A sharp pain burst across my temple, and stars began to cloud my vision. I managed to hold in a groan of pain, but I couldn't hold in my temper.

"Xavier! Watch what you're doing!" I shouted, aggravated as hell, even though I knew he was as scared of the thing as I was.

"I'm, I'm sorry," Xavier muttered, trembling, but slowing to a cruise.

Sighing, I brought my hand to the spot on my head that came in contact with the glass, and to my surprise it not only connected with a huge welt the size of walnut, but with a thin, sticky, substance; blood.

"What in Gods name was that thing?" I lifted my head up at Xavier- who had spoken the words- and a wave of nausea hit me. I touched my fingers, unconsciously, onto the huge swollen area again, not acknowledging Xavier; I would leave the explanation up to Cope. As if Cope had telepathy, he replayed everything that had occured in NSRF; getting into more detail than he had with me. Eve and Xavier sat silently through everything, Xavier still driving around randomly, with minor reactions from both of them. After several minutes of Copes explanation, he summed it up.

"So that's why all those people were at the station?" Eve asked Cope. Cope nodded sullenly, and continued answering their constant questions. I studied him as he talked and he began to look depressed to me, most likely because he had seen his son. What used to be his son that is. Speaking of which-

"We need to go back," I interrupted Cope in mid-sentence. They turned to me, save Xavier, who was busy keeping his eyes on the road. Whatever road we were on.

"What?" Eve said aghast. I couldn't blame her, either. After what I'd seen- Marcus- I didn't want to be any where near that place, but my mother was still in there, someone was at least. Or at least I hoped it would be my mother, if she was alive. Cope _had _said the disease could spread through one bite, but he also said the Unconsecrated ate us. Ate human flesh. And I didn't want my mom going through something like that, something that repugnant.

"Eve. Don't you remember why we were there in the first place?" I studied her face for any hint of the purpose, and found none. Apparently Eve didn't care about my mother as much as she should've. "My mom, Eve. My mom. She went there, to look for..." I nodded at Xavier, who was barely listening to us, but I knew that if I said his mothers name, it would stress him even more. We all had a hunch that she had been bitten, due to her last words to Xavier, that she was one of them now. Of course, we weren't positive, but you never know.

"Lacuna." My gaze swept back to Eve as she called my name. "You _don't_ know if she's...there. There must be dozens of them crawling around there! That's where they escaped from! I didn't hear any gunfire, so where are the police? Not there! You _don't_ know if your mom's there. I'm sorry to say this, guys, but both of your moms are probably dead."

Sickened and angered by my own friends hurtful words, I slapped her, hard, but I instantly regretted it. Avoiding her reaction, I curled up into the seat and brought my knees to my face; crying. Truthfully, I felt like a wimp crying, but Eves words had hit hard. She could've been right. She probably was right. Marcus couldn't have been the only Unconsecrated there. And even if he was, he could've gotten my mom. She hadn't even had a weapon when she left. No knife, no gun, no nothing.

Hisses of conversation started up between Eve and Xavier, Cope as silent as ever. I raised my head up to glare at my arguing friends, annoyed that they hadn't said a single thing to comfort me. But I wasn't surprised; I wasn't their top priority, was I? No, they had other things to worry about. Xavier had his mom, Eve had her whatever, and Cope he had Marcus.

"Guys, stop, it's fine," I said to them, but they ignored me. I tried again, this time, raising my voice. "Guys, cut the crap! NOW!" My voice echoed throughout the car, and the voices dwindled. Finally I had their attention. Even Cope was paying attention to me. Well, he was just eyeing me annoyingly, but in my mind, that still counted. "OK, so we don't know if my mom is dead or not," The words sounded foreign in my mouth. "But lets assume she is. Lets assume Peregrine is alive too. We are going back to NSRF, no arguing." I glared at Eve, who had a red mark on her cheek from my slap. _Good_. "Anyone who doesn't want to go, raise your hand now." No one raised their hands. Not even Eve, which was surprising. "Okay, so all of you know the danger that lies ahead, right?" They nodded. "And there's no going back from now on. We might not even live through this, but I think that weapons would help a lot in..."

"I've got that covered," Cope said.

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Cope smirked. "Yes, oh."

(^._.^)

"Is it close?" Eve asked again.

I sighed, she really had a patience problem. Succesfully, we had maneuvered past the few Unconsecrated we had seen, and into a secret part of the building. I had never known it was there, for it was well hidden. Just like in the movies, Cope had found a bookcase that not only served as a holding place for books, but also an unconspicuos entrance. He had even remembered which book triggered its opening. And as we forged past security doors, he had the code to them as well. It was odd to me, as it was to Xavier; Eve, unsurprisingly, was totally unaware of it.

"Actually," Cope said, coming to a stop in front of a large sliding door. "We're here." The door slid open as he stepped toward it, and he motioned us forward; we followed. Apparently, after all the security doors, who ever designed the building decided that if people got past all the security, they didn't need one last locked door. I consciously praised that person.

The doors sneakily closed behind us as we stepped into the large room. As my eyes roamed around the room, I finally understood why Cope had said he had it covered. The space was vast and impressive, with four walls masked with all sorts of bullet proof wear and weapons: shotguns, pistols, revolvers, machine guns, and plenty others. But that wasn't what surprised me most; on the far wall were a variety of swords, arrows, daggers, and spears, the types of weapons that were rarely used now.

I could tell I wasn't the only want surprised by such weapons. Xavier had already picked up an arrow from its stand, and was examining it with awe.

"Go ahead and pick out whatever you want. Get as much as you can. It's free," Cope said, picking up a gun of his own. Suddenly, Xavier had an arrow aimed for Copes' heart, ready to kill.

"Xavier-" I began, reaching out my arm to him. He didn't even glance at me, instead his eyes stayed fixed on Cope.

"Try anything, and I'll kill you," Xavier said. "Don't think you're not on my radar. You may have won her over," Xavier motioned to me, making me gape. I did not trust Cope one bit, he was the one who had tried to kill me and there was no reason I would give my trust to Cope, and Xavier should've known that. "But you haven't won me over. So I'll kill you, if you harm either one of those girls, if you harm me. And don't think I won't, cause I will." My eyes widened at the hardness in Xaviers voice. He wasn't joking, he was speaking business.

"Hey, hey, hey." Cope smiled, trying to lighten the mood, but was unsuccesful. He frowned and gulped as Xavier eyes narrowed on him. "I'm not that guy anymore. I'm on your side. Why would I try killing my allies, when I should be killing them?" He motioned his arm towards the door, symboling the Unconsecrated. "I wouldn't do that. And I've never killed a person in my life." His eyes settled on me, remembering the day he had tried to murder me. He had almost killed me, he had tried, and he could try again. His gaze returned to Xavier. "I'm _not_ that guy anymore," he repeated. "Not after all the stuff that has happened, not after Marcus... If I killed someone, I would be as bad as them. As bad as your mom."

He nodded at me, and I started to protest, but clamped my mouth shut. According to him, my mom was one of those responsible for Marcus's unfortunate outcome, and of others. So I couldn't argue. I couldn't stand up for my own mother. The one that had lied to me.

"And I don't want to be anything like her, like them," He continued. "If I was, I would kill myself, I would-"

"Okay, I get it. Enough of the chit-chat," Xavier snapped. I could tell he still didn't fall for his words. "Let's get out of here as fast as we can. Time's not on our side, and so aren't the Unconsecrated." Without further ado, he turned back to the weapons, strapping some guns on his shoulder like a pro. Like he had handled it before.

I, as well, began to strap on guns. I chose two of the lighter ones, the pistols, and I chose a bow and arrow; I couldn't resist the urge to hold the bow after I had seen it in action on TV. I strapped the two guns in the holsters of the waistband I had found, slipped a dagger into its sheath, and strung the bow and arrow across my shoulder, finishing my weapons hunt. Examining the others, I found they were also finishing up too. Cope held a single gun, and had slipped another into the depths of his pants; a calf holster. Eve had a gun in a shoulder holster, and a sword in its sheath. Xavier had lots more; he had two guns in a waistband holster, a dagger, and carried a rifle. Now I realized that we had a problem: Eve and I didn't have a clue how to use a gun.

"So..." I began, getting to the point. "How are we supposed to use these?" I took the gun in my hand.

Cope let out a breath. "God, I forgot I'm the only one here who knows how to use a gun." Cope strode toward me. He snatched the gun from me and began his intructions. "Okay guys, gather round. You all need to know this too." Eve and Xavier huddled in closer. "So, first. Take out the guns mag." I raised an eyebrow in confusion, but sensing my confusing, Cope pulled out an object in the shape of a 4 by 4 inch box.

"So, here's the magazine, not a real magazine of course, where the bullets are," he continued. "Make sure you stock up on a lot of these. I might even bring my own bag... Anyways, just slide the magazine in like this," He plunged it back into the gun. "And then, once you've got that done, pull down the safety lever here," he pointed at the small, slim, lever on the back of the top of the gun. "Then pull back the slide on the barrel, then aim, and fire." Thankfully, Cope didn't fire. "And when the magazine is empty, press this button to take it out. And reload. It's as easy as that." Cope spread his arms out wide, and smiled. "Got it?" He turned his back to me, and began searching the room for more supplies.

_No._ "Got it," I said instead.

"Good." He turned around with a black bang slung over his shoulder, containing the magazines. "So, let's go. Let's stay together, and shoot all those God damn bastards at will."

And with that, we headed toward the Unconsecrated; to live free, or to die hard.

**The death and gore will come up soon! If you like death.., if you don't then... that's just a series of unfortunate events... **

**Cause I like Death... As in Hades...**

**Anywho, more to come! **

**(^._.^) **


	8. Chapter 8

We had hoped to get out of NSRF without running into those horrid creatures, but let's say we had no such luck. Right as we entered the huge foyer, so close to getting out, we encountered a huge group of the Unconsecrated. Huge as in about fifteen. FIFTEEN! **FIFTEEN! **It might not seem that big but there were four of us, and fifteen of them! That meant we each had to take on at least three of them. Well, if we evened it out.

And I barely knew how to shoot a gun. _God, help me._ I felt like running away, which would be so wimpy. Plus, I would be leaving my friends with 3 people, instead of four, and what was that one saying? 4 is better than 3? Wait, no, it was 2 is better than 1. Well, it did apply to this situation...kind of. The group of the Unconsecrated were falling apart. Literally. I saw what looked like a man, but could've been a woman, with a missing eye. All that was left was a small, gouging black hole. Blood encrusted in it. Another had only one arm left, and bullet holes on its other. One was even crawling on the floor like a snake. Snakes had no legs, the thing didn't either.

"Here we go now," Cope said, the zombies tumbling toward us. "Make sure, and this is very critical, you don't get bitten by them. Not. One. Bite. But if you do, put that gun in your mouth, and pull the trigger. Good luck, kids."

That was our cue. I raised my gun, aiming it at the nearest zombie. _Bam. _The bullet whizzed out of it, hitting its target square in the head. It collapsed onto the ground. I had one second to congratulate myself, then another -a woman, a girl- came at me. Aiming for its head, I fired, but the bullet missed its target. The Unconsecrated lunged, knocking the gun out of my hand. I fell back, jarring my head on the hard floor, and the Unconsecrated landed on top of me.

My legs reacted, instantly kicking at the monster, and connecting. I felt its the weight fall off me, giving me a chance to stand back up, but the battle wasn't over yet. These things never quit, unless they were dead of course. All their focus was on eating, biting, killing.

The Unconsecrated women came at me again. My gun was lost somewhere under the trampling of feet, I would have to get it later, even though I had multiple. But it couldn't be wasted. I pulled out another gun and fired at her. It. But nothing came out. Frustrated, I jammed the gun against my palm, maybe it was stuck, and fired again. Nothing.

The women was a few steps away from me now, leaving me no choice but to use the dagger. That meant I would have to get closer to her. Yuck. My sweaty palsm fumbled for the dagger in my belt, and found it. I quickly thrust my arm up and sliced through the women's neck. Clean through. But the body kept coming at me. At the last second, I stepped to the side, sticked out my foot, and sent the body tumbling to the ground. I was good at tripping.

_Two down... how many to go? _

I gazed around me, and to my surprise, found no Unconsecrated standing. Cope and Xavier stood panting -I could tell they had gotten a work out- and had at least five zombies around them. Well, I could make out five bodies. Some of the bodies lay in many pieces; I saw an arm and a severed leg resting a few feet away from Cope. He had fought dirty. Good thing I kept him, he was an experienced fighter to my knowledge.

I stared at Xavier, who had sweat running down his brow, sweat that looked amazing on him, so amazing I just wanted to kiss him there. But that would be a little awkward for him, and for me, wouldn't it? My gaze lingered on his face, his strong and brave face, and stayed there. Sensing me watching him, Xavier raised his head from the catastrophe around him and met my eyes. He grinned. Blushing, I looked away. I felt like an icecream cone sitting in the hot sun; melting. Why did he have to make me feel like this? My legs felt like jello when he looked at me, and my head spinned round and round like a ferris wheel. Sucked for me.

"Good job, team," Cope said. I stood there surprised. _Team? _We were a team now? According to Cope, we were. It sounded good to me, but not so much to Xavier, it sounded.

"We are _not _a team," Xavier said, his face hardening, but then it instantly softened. And he even smiled. _Surprise, surprise._ "But good job kicking ass, Cope." He turned to me. "You too Lacuna. And you, Eve. Now let's get out of here."

We followed him out to the parking lot, where he had hid the car in between a bunch of trees. I thought there was no need to hide a car since the Unconsecrated ate humans, not cars. And it wasn't like they were going to hijack the car. But Xavier had his precautions, and I had mine.

"Guys, hold on," Xavier said as we arrived at the car.

I dropped my hand from the doors handle and looked at Xavier. "What?" I asked. Did he want to get us killed? We had no idea how many more Unconsecrated loomed around the building, or how many new were being made. Now he wanted for us to wait? He must've been out of his mind.

Xavier hesitated before answering. "My mom. She might be here. Hiding. You guys can go ahead and get in the car. I'm.. I'm going to call her." He took out his cell and started typing in numbers. I almost slapped him. He actually thought his mom was alive? I knew it was a horrible thought to have -his mom dead- but he needed to face it. My mom, and his mom were both dead. Dead or Unconsecrated. But then again, they were pretty much the same thing.

"Xavier, come on, we don't have time for this," said I. He ignored me, and continued the typing. Then he raised the phone to his ear. I heard it ring once. Then it rang again.

I jumped, startled. A low, faint, buzz, sounded from the forest. The forest that stretched around one side of the NSRF to the back. The forest that was one of the biggest in the world. A buzz. A ring. A phone. I gasped.

There was a chance Peregrine was alive. And my mother.

**So, do you think Peregrine and Lucana's mother are alive? Well, find out in the next chapter. Or the next. It depends on what I feel like doing. Oh, and reviews it you have any suggestions! **

**Thankyou. What's that smell?**


	9. Chapter 9

"Did you guys hear that?" Xavier asked.

"Hear what?" I asked, even though I did hear it. But the thing was that if Peregrine hadn't picked up her phone, and her phone was out in the forest, then she wasn't with her phone. Her phone being in the forest meant that she was either in the forest, or is in the forest. But why would she be there? For a human, it would be spooky, dark, and deadly, with all the Unconsecrated prowling around. Unless, of course, she wasn't human. "I didn't hear anything at all. Eve did you hear anything?" I didn't wait for her to answer. "No? Well, that settles it. We'd better go." I grabbed for the door handle, but stopped.

"Wait," Xavier said. "Here, see?" He began dialing his moms phone number again, then waited. A faint buzz sounded from the woods, followed by a moan. I tensed. "See, Lacuna. Didn't you hear that?"

"Yeah, I heard the moan. Now we should get out of here. That might be headed our way." I reached for the handle again. Xavier's hand clamped down on my arm, stopping me.

"No, Lacuna. You don't understand.."

"I _do_ understand. There's an Unconsecrated out there. Probably more than one. And we need to leave, or else we suffer the consequences. Now give me the keys already."

"No! You heard that! We all did!" His face was inches from mine, making it hard to breathe. "_That _was my mother! And you know it! She's out there. She's alive. I can feel it. We can't go! We can't." He backed away from me. I stayed still. "Sorry, I… I didn't know what… I'm sorry. Can you just think about this for a second? This is my _mom_ we're talking about here. Please?"

"Xavier, I _am_ thinking about it, and I just don't think hiking off into that forest is a good idea. It's a horrible idea actually. That moan. It might've been your mothers."

Xaviers face hardened. _Uh oh. _"God damn it, Lacuna! What's your problem? Can't you ever be optimistic? And why are you being so callous?" He began pacing, with his hands pulling at his hair. "My mom… She means everything to me. She's the only thing I have left. _You_ don't know anything about love, Lacuna. You don't." He sighed. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I had nothing to say to that. Maybe he was right. "Okay, so if you guys want to leave. Then go. I'll search for her by myself." He began stalking off, but then turned around; facing me. "And Lacuna?"

"Hmm?" I hummed.

"What's the difference between you and the Unconsecrated?" He tossed the keys at me; I catched.

_Um, a lot of things. I'm don't have my limbs hanging everywhere, I don't crave human flesh, I don't moan all the time, the list goes on and on. _But I kept my mouth shut. I knew he meant something else. He thought I had no soul. And I was just beginning to fall for him. He began stalking off. I was as still as a statue. Should I go after him? No. Not after-

"Hey, guys, where are you going?" I asked as Eve and Cope began treading after him.

Eve turned, her eyes cold, and said, "You know what? He's right, Lacuna. You don't care about anyone but yourself. Hmm, reminds me of your mother. No wonder Cope, here, holds a grudge. Should've killed you when he had the chance." She snorted. "Goodbye Lac." _Lac? _"Or should I say, good riddance."

I gawked at them as they vanished into the trees. What? I was so confused. At first, she was the one who didn't want to find my mother, but now? What did she want to do? Leave and run off with Xavier to find his mom? Women. Oh, oh. I got it now. Of course. She had a crush on Xavier. Duh, why didn't I think of it before? Oh god, and now I was all alone. With no ammo, arrows, which weren't effective in the dark, and a dagger. I really needed them.

"Hey, wait up!" I called after them. I burst into the forest and looked around; nothing. They were already gone. "Eve! Xavier! Cope!" Nothing. The wind began to blow, the cold settling in. I shivered, but not from the cold, from the creeps. Decision making time. I looked back at the hidden car, longing to run to it, then back at the ominous forest, disappearing into the darkness as far as I could see.

My brain told me to get into the car and drive away, but my heart told me to go after my friends. The last time I'd listened to my brain I got a C on a test. Heart it was. After stuffing Xaviers keys into my pocket, I walked deeper into the woods. And walked. Five minutes. And walked. Ten minutes. And walked. Fifteen minutes. No sign of them. I sighed; shivered. Where were they? I walked on.

Then stopped, pulling out the dagger. A twig crunched in the distance. I tensed. Another crunch, this time closer. I found cover behind a tree, and knelt down. My eyes scanned my surroundings, at least, the only part I could see- which wasn't much. Then they came into view.

There were five of them total. All dressed in uniforms. Soldiers? Why were they there? It didn't look like they were Unconsecrated, but I couldn't tell for certain in the dim light. So far, though, there were no moans, but no talking either. But then one spoke, confirming their humanity. The dagger went back into my pocket.

"Men, move forward." A man waved his hand forward, and they began creeping away from me. No, they couldn't leave me behind. I jumped out from behind the tree and yelled, "Hey!" at them. They immediately swiveled around, guns pointed at me. Light rained down on me.

"Woah, woah, woah. Human here. Don't shoot," I said, holding my hands up, mostly to cover up my eyes from the sudden light. It would take a little while for my pupils to dilate.

A man, the leader most likely, came forward and signaled their weapons down. I sighed and dropped my hands to my side.

"Who are you?" The man asked. I squinted at him through the darkness, but couldn't see him.

"Um, I'm.. I mean my name's Lacuna and-" I began.

"I don't care what your name is. Why are you out here? Do you have any clue how dangerous it is out here?"

"Well yeah, actually, I do. You see, my friends left me alone cause they went searching for... a friend. And, let's just say we got in a fight. But that's beside the point. So what are _you_ guys doing here?"

He ignored my question. "Young lady, your on unauthorized territory. We'll have to escort you off." He turned back to his men. "Jose, you and your men, escort this girl off the premises. Be carefully." A look passed between them. "My men, you stay with me." He began walking off in the other direction, his men tagging behind him, and Jose strode toward me. Up close, I could see he was in his 30s, handsome, and, of course, Mexican.

"Young lady.." he began.

"Call me Lacuna," I said.

"Lacuna. Please come with us." He held out his hand to the other men. I stood rooted to the spot.

"No," I said. "My friends are out there. My unexperienced friends are out there. They just started using guns an hour ago, and now they're in a forest filled with those zombie things. No, I think I'll stay here. You guys can go on ahead. Wait, I need ammonition. Please tell me you have some. And a flashlight, maybe? And I'm pretty hungry. Gotta pizza on ya? I could also use-"

"Stop. Stop right there." Jose grabbed me by the shoulders and began pushing me in the direction of civilization. I tried to wriggle free, but his grip was too strong.

"Let. Me. Go!" I screamed. His grip only tightened, making it difficult to move my arms. I wouldn't go down so easily. My hands reached for the dagger in the belt. You would think they'd thought of ridding me of it, but they didn't. They hadn't really been paying attention to me, anyway. My fingers slid over the handle and I caught hold of it. Instantly I thrusted the dagger back into Jose. It connected with a sickening _squelch _near his ribs and Joses hands disappeared from my shoulders. He screamed. I ran.

My legs pounded below me as I dashed through the thick brush. I had no idea where I was going as I sprinted through the darkness. Shouts errupted behind me, angry, and lights shined. They were right on my tail. This made me run even faster, but then something lodged into my shoulder. I slowed down and gazed down at it; tranquilizer dart. My legs stopped, I stumbled. _No, no, no! _The shouts got closer. _No. _I fell. _No..._

The lights went out.

**So, didn't see that coming, did you? No, you didn't. So Xavier, Eve, and Cope are still in the forest, looking for Peregrine. Will they find her? No. Kidding. I mean, you'll have to read on to find out. So, tell me how you liked it, or didn't like it, by reviewing. Thankyou. **

**(^._.^) **


	10. Chapter 10

"She _stabbed_ a colonel and almost killed him. You think that's excusable? That's ridiculous."

My eyes fluttered open from the sound and instantly my arms flew up to shield them from the sudden light. Or tried to, but they were stuck. I looked down; my hands were chained to a chairs armrests. _What the…_ My arms yanked and yanked at the cuffs, but found no release. I sighed and gave up. Where was I? My eyes roamed around the room. Besides me and the chair, the room was empty save a long table in front of me and a chair opposite of mine. On the wall to my left was what looked like a mirror, but was actually a one way mirror, and on the far wall was a door. Locked. I was in an interrogation room. Where was Xavier? Eve? Cope? I didn't know.

"Come on, Steve." The voices continued. Two men, they were. "When you see her, you'll know she's innocent. She didn't know what she was doing. Please give her a chance."

"She injured one of my best men. He could be out there killing those darned creatures instead of lying on a hospital bed! And we have to pay money for his care, but you're standing up for this girl? You met her once, for Pete's sakes. _And_ you were what, five?"

"Twelve."

"Twelve, whatever. I'll judge this girl myself. You stay quiet." Footsteps clomped, nearing. Closer, closer. The knob on the door turned.

My eyes fell on the door; waiting. They were here. The door pushed open and four men stepped inside, two of them positioned as guards. The door clicked closed, leaving us in silence. The older man, Steve, who was staring at me with hatred, was an old, bulky, man with gray hair streaking his black hair, and an ugly, protruding scar ran from his right temple down to his eye and then to his cheek. Past his eyes that could kill.

I shivered as his eyes rested on me, quickly looking away. The other was a young man, a few years older than me, maybe 19 or 20, was tall, lanky, and striking. His hair was long and a light brown color, and his skin was a nice tan. His eyes were a beautiful black, and his nose rested perfectly upon his face. This one, unlike the old man, gave me a tiny smile when he looked at me. My lips curled up on their own.

"Okay, let's get down to business," Steve said, clapping his hands together. I shuddered from the loud echo of the sound. "Tell me, miss-," he stopped, turning to his colleague. "What is it?" The young man muttered something I couldn't hear and Steve turned back to me. "Wither, yes. Miss Wither."

Wheels turned in my head, spinning out of control. They new my name. That meant they new everything about me. And my mom.

Steve noticed the panick in my eyes and smirked. "Yes, we know who you are. We know all about you. Your family. Your dad, mom." He snorted, then got serious again. "Your mom, where is she?" He practically shouted this. But why did he want my mom? He barely knew her.

"I don't know where she is," I said, truthfully. But I really wish I did.

Steve slammed his hands down on the table, making me jump. Well, as much as I could jump while chained to a chair. "Oh really? You don't know where she is. Well, according to the witnesess you were the last person to see her. You should know where she is."

_Witnesess? Really? _He was probably making that part up.

"I really don't know where she is." I tried to sound nonchalant. "The last thing she told me-" I yawned. "She told me she was going to visit her friend, what's her name again? Peregrine, yes. And, uh, speaking of friends, where are mine? Weren't those soldiers excavating the woods? Yeah, they were. So, if you haven't found them yet I'll need you and your men to go find them." I paused, waiting for a response. There was none. "Chop, chop," I added.

A giggle errupted in the corner. It was the colleague. His hands covered mouth, trying to hold in his laughter, but when Steves deadly gaze landed on him, his laughter turned into coughing fits.

I almost laughed myself.

"Miss Wither," Steve said. "This is not the time to joke. I shall tell you the city has been evacuated and your friends probably followed along. If they're smart enough that is. Now we're on lockdown, but that does not elimate the crisis, those... What shall I say? Beasts. We also are not certain how viral the disease is, but hopefully it is suppressed within the boundaries of this city. What we do know is that this news cannot spread. The army can't know anything about this."

I gave him a questioning look. "I thought you were the army."

He laughed. "No miss. We're the government."

"Hmmm. Interesting. So you're telling me that the government was stupid enough to house a bunch of zombies while knowing something like this could happen?" I asked, amazed. Astounded.

"We didn't know-"

I interrupted him. "Does the president know about this?" It was a random question, but I wanted to know the answer. If the president knew what was happening, he would surely go berserk. Once, when a meteoroid was told to be on course for impact in the U.S, he sent out at least three rockets to blow it up.

The meteoroid was the size of my fist.

Steve looked wary when I mentioned the president. I didn't blame him though. President Burten was the worst president in the history of histories. I didn't know why, or how, he got elected. But then again, he did promise all Americans free icecream for a month. They were so gullible. Such a disgrace. No wonder China had bypassed Americas economy, education, and the scientific/mathmetic industry. Maybe they had time travel or probably had asians living on distant planets.

"The president doesn't know anything about this," Steve answered. "And I plan to keep it that way. That's off topic, though. You're mother has the cure. I'm sure of it. When-"

"What? There's a cure?" I asked. This surprised me. Cope had stated there was no cure, but now Steve was countering it. _And _he said my mother had it. That meant...

"Yes," Steve replied. "When your mom and I worked together at the NSRF, we thought that if we discovered a cure for any type of disease, defect, cancer, the works, then we could rule the world. We were genuises, or so we thought. Our students were eager to help and we couldn't refuse. We tested them, and as you see, it didn't result in what was expected. So we searched and searched for a cure. And I found one. But she, your mother... One day it was there and the other, gone. I asked your mother about it, but she said nothing. I knew she had it. She was keeping it from me. I loved her, so much, but couldn't hold in my anger. I got thrown into jail for abusive behavior." He began to sound carried away. And his eyes were wet. What a wimp.

"I didn't know she had cancer," he continued. "She never told me. I... I didn't even know she was pregnant with you." He smiled, staring into the distance. "I was going to be a father."

He stopped, coming back to reality. I froze too.

"Wait," I said. "You're...you're telling me that you're my... my dad?"

Yes was all he could say.

**So reviews. How'd you like it? The buttons right down there.**

**(^._.^) **


	11. Chapter 11

I yawned, sleepy, and slowly opened my eyes. The new gray cell appeared before me. _Where am I? __Oh yeah, wait. _It all clicked. The zombies, my dad, all that stupid stuff. It was hard to believe. Zombies and what not. Me using a gun, stabbing a guy, losing my friends. My mom. But it was reality.

After my interrogation, I was relocated to a cell with a bed, desk, and this toilet-sink catastrophe in the corner. Which, to my despise, provided absolutely no privacy. For two days I had been stuck in this hell-hole. What kind of father would do that to his own daughter? A horrible one. According to my "father", who didn't appreciate the title, there was no news of my friends, or of my mother. None of that was surprising though, just sad.

The news of my dad still being alive, and him being Steve, was still unnerving to me. I'd rather have a dead dad than one like him. And my mother never even told me. All those years she let me believe he was dead. Now I knew why.

I twisted my neck to one side, then the other, getting the cracks out of them. I stretched me back, my legs came next. _Ouch. _Sitting in a cramped cell for or over a day could make a person very sore and cranky. Hungry too. The only thing they'd fed me was a bowl of shit. Or what looked like it.

Thankfully, the young man, whose name turned out to be Seth, sneaked me slices of pizza and even pieces of cake. He also tried to decrease my boredom by telling me stories of when we were young, around 7 and 8, and used to hang out together. Our moms were best friends, he told me. I didn't remember it, but he did for some weird reason.

Whenever he came in to see me, I tried to ignore how fast my heart pounded, and how sweaty my palms became, knowing that he still worked for my evil dad. But that didn't faze me, my feelings for him grew stronger every hour, every minute, every second. Ugh, it got annoying.

"Hey." Seth.

"Hey, didn't see you there," I said, sitting up. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach.

"Well, you looked like you were daydreaming there. And, um, I brought you something."

I noticed one arm was held behind his back, hiding something. "Oh?"

"Yeah." He set the two bowls of icecream down on the bed. _Seriously? What a disappointment. _My eyes widened and a grin spread across my face from ear to ear, like a child.

"Wow!" I exclaimed, clapping. "This is amazing, Seth. Are those for me?"

He sat down. "Well, not both, I was actually thinking we could eat them together. I mean, well, I could keep you company." He scratched his head. "I'm off duty for the rest of the day so I came here. Nothing else to do." He smiled.

"Oh? Well thankyou. This is great. And I'm starving anyway." I scooped up a big spoonful of strawberry icecream and plopped it in my mouth. It was delicious. Seth did the same. We ate in silence. Time went by slowly, but enjoyably. I glanced up at Seth a few times as we ate, noticing his worried look.

"Do you hate me?" He asked.

The spoon fell back into the bowl as I began choking on my icecream, if you could choke on icecream, then I laughed. Not to loud, for fear of being heard, but loud enough so Seth could hear. I laughed and laughed for a while, about five minutes, then finally stopped, my stomach aching from it. Seth wasn't laughing at all.

"No, I don't hate you, Seth. Why would you even think that?"

He let out a sigh of relief. "You know. I work for your dad and all. And I can obviously tell you abominate him. That first day, I swear you could've killed him if not cuffed. And when you heard he was your father, I thought you were going to kill them. Me included."

I laughed again, this time for a second, then became serious. "Seth. I would never kill a person unless they tried killing me first. And I barely know how to fight! I learned how to use a gun a couple of days ago, killed some Unconsecrated, stabbed a guy, which was necessary, and have yet to kill someone. I really don't want to kill anyone, you of all people should know that. I don't hate you either. I can't blame you for working for my dad, actually I can, but you have your reasons." I looked down at my twitching hands. "Who could hate a guy like you anyways?"

"A guy like me? Explain." He tucked his hand under his chin and pouted his lips.

I laughed. "I'd rather not explain, but I mean-" I struggled to find the right words to describe him without embarrassing myself. "You're nice." _Nice? _What a loser I was. But I wasn't about to say: "Well you're sexy, for one, that's what I'm focused on. Kidding. And I guess you're considerate of others. Me. Did I mention you're sexy?"

"Nice?" Seth scoffed, moving a little bit closer. His face was inches from mine. So close I could smell the strawberries from his breath.

"Yeah. Nice. Awesome. Every other guy I've known has hurt me. Physically and mentally." _Xavier...Cope... _"You've done neither. I think I...you..."

Suddenly his lips were on mine. They tasted like strawberries and were so soft, so delicate. Delicious. I didn't pull away, instead, I leaned closer, pressing a hand on his back. His arms went up around my head on the wall, his knees around my thighs. _Oh God. __What am I doing? _

My conscious urged me to stop, but he had different plans. I don't know how, but soon I was lying down on the small bed, Seth on top of me, our kisses getting more frantic. His tongue ran across the bottom of my lip, then the top. It was too much. It needed to stop.

"Seth," I muttered between kisses. He didn't stop though. "Seth!" I yelled. Nothing. His lips continued their way down my neck, toward my chest, making me uncomfortable. Well then, I guess I needed to try the hard way. I kicked him hard in his crotch and pushed him off the bed. He moaned and rolled over on the ground. I jumped up, bouncing on the balls of my toes, ready for a fight, but none came.

Something else did.

The door slammed open and my father stepped in, followed by two of his gaurds. He looked deadly, ready to strike, to kill.

"What is the meaning of all this racket?" He demanded. I didn't answer. I didn't have to. His eyes took in Seth moaning on the floor, then the two empty bowls filled with the remains of strawberries, then returned back to me. His face was a tomato red, filled with anger, and his eyes showed no love towards me. _I wonder why.._

I smiled at him, shrugging my shoulders, like I had nothing to do with it.

**That might've been a boring chapter to some of ya, but there will be others different from it. **

**Anyways, review! I don't care who you are, just review. **

**Give me your honest opinions. **

**Thankyou to those **

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**bye **


	12. Chapter 12

I don't know why I cried when I heard Seth had been exiled from the compound, sent out in the forest to fend for himself. Maybe it was because I knew, somewhere in his heart, was a hint of compassion. Or maybe I just felt like crying. But there was more bad news: I was on strikes. Apparently, I had two strikes till I was out. Literally, out. Sent to my death out, just like Seth. But that wasn't it.

I was sitting peacefully in my room, reading a book, a present from some guard, that was on a cliffhanger. I was so into the book I didn't see Steve sneak up on me. The book slammed closed and was snatched from my fingers. I hadn't even had the time to check the page I was on.

_What the.._

"What the…," I said, standing up. I snatched for the book but Steve held it out of my reach. I let out an exasperated sigh. "Give it to me." I held out my hand, waiting.

Steve ignored me and said, "Follow me." He turned away from me, handing the book to his guard, and walked out the door. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. I wasn't going anywhere.

When the dumbass finally realized I wasn't following him, he turned around and raised his eyebrows.

"What?" I asked. "It's not like you're my _dad._" I smirked when his eyes darkened.

_Yeah, that's right. Be mad. _

He motioned to the guard and then to me. _Oh no. _The guard rushed at me with cuffs, ready to get me, but I wasn't going to have it. I swung my leg up around me and kicked him square in his temple. He dropped down, unconscious.

I grinned down at the body. "Wow, that was easier than I thought." And it was. After a week of being locked up alone in a room, practicing jabs and kicks could sure pay off. I had slimmed down a few inches too; with what food they gave me, any person would. Of course, it was very self tiring and dangerous; I could get dehydrated easily and once, I even puked. But still, with my stubborn self, I surged on.

"Strike two." I frowned, looking up at Steve. He held up two fingers in front of me, wagging them about wildly. As if he _wanted _me out. "Now." He walked away, giving me no choice but to follow. "If you want to become a zombie, then it will be my pleasure to kick you out. But if you don't, then keep on your best behavior all times." We rounded the bend of the long, white, hallway, entering a next. "I am offering you a chance here. A chance to be free." He stopped in front of a silver door, holding it open for me. "Accept if you want, or deny. It doesn't matter to me." Something gleamed in his eyes: He did care. "But do tell me something, Lacuna." It was the first time he'd ever used my first name. "Do you want the world to end?"

He gave me no time to answer. Instead, he nudged me in, and shut the door behind us. Surprisingly, we were the only two people in the room. In front of me were two dozen chairs, separated by a single, sleek, long, wooden table. And on the far wall was a huge Delax screen- much bigger then the one at NSRF. I walked to the front of the room, transfixed by such technology, and touched the corner of it.

"Can you put this in my room?" I asked Steve. He appeared beside me in a flash, like Superman.

"I'm afraid it wouldn't possibly fit," he said.

I snorted. "Then get me a bigger room."

His eyes hardened. "Sit down," he ordered. I sat. "We are not here to discuss your luxury. Let's not get off track. Now." He touched the screen and an image extended from it, hovering in mid-air. It was a map of the United States. I gasped. _Woah. _

"This here is a map of the U.S.," Steve described. I gave him a _duh_ look. "The red spots you see here," he circled the section with his hand. It covered most of Michigan down to Tennessee and extended from Illinois to Virginia. ", are the areas where there have been reports of ominous moans and sightings of monsters. Obviously the Unconsecrated. This disease has spread that far in a matter of weeks."

He shook his head sadly. "And look here." Another image appeared, hovering in mid-air, this time a map of the whole Earth. Red dots blotched every continent, save Antarctica, most covering areas larger than Texas.

"Through travel, this infection has spread in dimensions never thought of. Missing Persons signs have covered up billboards around the world and some even think this is an alien invasion. The president is asking questions. Questions we can't answer. _People _are asking questions. Questions the president can't answer. We need a cure, Lacuna."

I knew where this was going. "I don't have it!" I yelled, walking to the door. It was frustrating, really. Being asked to save the world when you couldn't.

Steve put a reassuring have on my shoulder. "But you do." He held up a vial of red liquid; blood. "We tested your blood and found similar cells to the one in The Cure. I don't know how but, your mother didn't take the cure. You did."

I laughed. "Yeah, I would know if I took something like that and I am positive I didn't." I looked into his eyes, worry crossing my expression. Fake worry of course. "Are you on drugs?" I refrained from smiling.

"No!" He yelled right into my ear. I winced, touching a finger to my ear.

"Jeez, yell much? You know, I heard the yelling is _not _good on your voice. And at the age your at, dude, I'm afraid you might not be able to talk soon. Lucky me." I smirked.

His face turned red in anger. _Ha ha. _

"You really aren't willing to save the human population?" He asked.

_Nope. _"Why would I try saving the human population when, even if this never happened, the "human population" would kill itself? From what I've seen you guys don't care about each other, but yourselves. How can a species like that cope with others? How can a species like that survive? The answers easy: It can't." I turned to go, but Steve stopped me, again. "What?"

"Your mom can be saved with this. With you."

Dread filled me. Now he was going to use my mom to lure me in. It was convincing. "What do I have to do?"

He hesitated but said, "We'll need your whole blood supply."

Panic filled me, then rage overclouded it and I almost punched him in the face. "Doesn't that kill people?"

He nodded.

"And you think I'll sacrifice myself for a bunch of idiots? Nah, I'll pass." I hurried out the room, content with my decision.

**Sorry I didn't update in a while, but I was busy and all. **

**But here it is.**

**Review! **


	13. Chapter 13

"I'm not giving you a choice anymore," Steve said as he entered my room. I looked up from the worn out book.

"What?" I said, giving him a quizzical look. I watched as four gaurds filed into my room. _What…_

"I'm not going to let millions…billions of people die all because one bratty teenager didn't. This is absurd, I'm not even going to explain it to you. Guards."

The four of them rushed towards me, hand cuffs ready for use, guns aimed at me. They were going to kill me. My dad was going to kill me. No, I wouldn't let it happen. I jerked upright and grabbed the nearest man, slipped the gun out of his hold, and aimed it at his head. The whole process was completed in less than a second. The three men halted but their guns were still aimed at me.

"If you fire I'll shoot him," I said, pressing the gun deeper into the mans forehead. He was sweating now and probably peeing in his pants. I slowly inched toward the door; my escape route.

"She's bluffing," a blonde man said.

"Oh really?" I raised my gun and, without further a do, shot the blonde in the knee. Hey, what can I say? It always seemed to work in movies.

He screamed, dropping his gun, and clutched his knee. He fell to the ground and was crowded by the other two men. With the worthy distraction, I released the man from my clutches, and ran out the door, right past where Steve stood. I gave him one last wave and flew down hallway after hallway. An alarm sounded above before I rounded the third hallway and men came streaming out a few yards in front of me.

_Oh shit. _

I turned and ran the other way. I had no idea where I was going in the first place, so I just went on instinct. The building was like a maze; twist and turns that led to nowhere. I sprinted as fast as I could as men shouted behind me, getting closer. I was slowing down. My breathing turned into pants and my legs turned into Jell-O. Still, I forged on. I rounded another bend and came to a stop at the silver door in front of me. EXIT, it read.

I pushed throught the door and into blinding light. I shielded my eyes and gazed around. A few yards in front of me was a tall fence that circled the perimeter. Gaurds were stationed near posts to look out at the forest beyond. Below.

The expanse stood on a large hill that overlooked the city, the city that was down in ruins. Even though I could barely see it from here, I could tell everything was in chaos. During the time I was locked up in that jail my home had turned from a lovely paradise to the Underworld.

Buildings and homes burned, smoke clouding the air. The water was now a blurry gray with streaks of red streaming across it. I knew it was blood. I saw clumps of Unconsecrated dragging their deformed bodies closer to the hill, where they could smell their food. Smell me. Us.

Moans sounded from below, and it surprised me that I could hear them from almost a mile away. Suddenly I realized the extreme nature of this disease- how much it had spread. My dad had spoken the truth: This wasn't just happening in my city, or even the state for that matter. It was everywhere.

Shouts errupted behind me, jolting me from my surprise. I ran. Since there were men all lined up around the fence, I didn't stand a chance to escape, but maybe I could distract them.

I spotted dozens of Unconsecrated right outside the fence, clawing their fingers through the tiny holes, tearing off skin in the process. But that didn't faze them; they were hungry. Only two guards stood stationary in the tower near the entrance, shooting at the Unconsecrated below.

I headed for the towers stairs, running up them two at a time. Glancing behind me, I saw Steve's agents stream out the door; I needed to hurry.

I stumbled onto the raised platform and saw that the guards hadn't noticed my presence yet. They were standing by the railing, slamming bullets into the beasts below. My eyes scanned the area, searching for the button to open the gate, and to my distaste, I noticed a remote attached to one of the guards back pockets.

I lurched for it but the sound of my shoes clomping on the floor halted their shooting and they turned to me, eyes wide.

"What-" one of them began as I cut him off.

I swung my leg around, slamming it into his head. The blow sent him wobbling against the railing. His friend tried to catch him but it was too late as he fell over the railing into the awaiting Unconsecrated. They hungrily crowded around him, obscuring him from my sight, but I heard his anguished cries as he was pulled apart, piece by piece; eaten alive.

I didn't have the time to shed a tear for someone I'd killed as the other man came at me, tazer readied in one hand. He had a look of feriocity on his face from his lost friend I had murdered. I shuddered: I killed a man.

I leapt to the side as he fired his tazer, it missed me by less than an inch. Then I rammed my fist up into his jaw, the power lifting his feet off the ground. He fell back down, slumped against the railing, unconcious.

The remote was still in his back pocket and I was glad I hadn't thrown him overboard. I fumbled with it, snatching it off his pocket, and pressed the "OPEN" button. Slowly, the gate opened and the Unconsecrated streamed in.


	14. Chapter 14

I watched as the guards hastily began pounding the Unconsecrated with steel bullets, killing many of them. Still, the stream of Unconsecrated continued and the number became overwhelming. I watched as one by one the living were submerged in crowds of Unconsecrated, being torn piece by piece.

I winced at their blood-curling screams. Guilt flooded me; these men were fathers, sons, or brothers. They were loved as much as I loved my mother. And they were being killed, all because of me.

I mentally punched myself in the face before searching for a way out. Maybe I should've had a better plan before I released the Unconsecrated. But the only way down was the abutting fence-the stairs pooled with the undead. The fence, though, was over 15 feet tall.

A fall from that height could result in a broken anything. And being in the situation I was in, I didn't want that to happen. I wish I had rope.

But of course, a magic genie didn't appear and grant my wish for rope.

_Ugh, of all the things… _

I looked around for items that could serve for rope but all I found was the belt strapped to the man slumped against the railing. Hurriedly, I slipped it off and tied it to the railing. But looking down, I still had more than a 10 foot drop. I glanced back down at the man. There was nothing else rope-like on him but….

Groaning, I undid his pants zipper and shrugged off his pants, all while looking the other way. I'd rather look at the Unconsecrated than _that. _

Once off, I quickly attached the pants onto the belts buckle, pulling it a few times to test it. Thankfully, it held. I glanced down the fence and to my pleasure; there were no Unconsecrated in sight.

They had all breached the manor. Without further ado, I slipped the Taser into my pocket and the gun from the guards' holster then grabbed onto my enhanced rope. I braced my feet against the fence and, like a rock climber, vaulted down. When my hands reached the end of the rope, I still had an 8 foot drop to go.

"Oh fuck it," I said and jumped.

The ground rushed toward me and I collided with it. My ankle was abruptly on fire. I groaned, clutching my ankle, and looked up to see a few Unconsecrated now facing me. Ignoring the pain, I got up on my feet and ran. Okay, limped. I looked back to see that the Unconsecrated hadn't come after me, and were still eating on human flesh. I wondered if Steve was somewhere in there.

On the way down the hill, I stumbled across some Unconsecrated, but maneuvered around them. So instead of using the bullets, I savored them.

The streets were deserted save for a few stray cars and trash drifting in the wind. Doors were shut, blinds closed, some fires burned, and an eerie feeling settled over the city. At some point I heard distant moans. Still, I continued jogging.

My house was thankfully intact-the front door was shut and the windows sealed tight. I climbed slowly up the steps, gun in hand. A flash of yellow caught my eye. There, on the door, was a single sticky note. I ripped it off anxiously and read the oh-so familiar handwriting. It said:

Lacuna, I hope you're alive. If you're reading this, then you surely are. Xavier, Cope, and I are headed to a refugee camp in Roman. I apologize for everything. You were right. We didn't find Xav's mom. Please come.

Sincerely, Eve

I sniffled back a tear: They were okay. I stuffed the paper into my pocket and creaked the door open, gun raised. When nothing jumped out at me, I searched the rest of the house and the results were the same. I stepped into the upstairs bathroom and took a quick shower. I was surprised the power was still on and the water still ran.

After quickly changing into a new pair of clothes, I scavenged the top floor for stuff I would need for the trip: clothes, shoes, medicine kit, flashlight, hair bands, toiletries, a sleeping bag, etc. Interestingly enough, I found a gun while shifting through Mom's stuff. The more the merrier.

Finally, I got a chance to examine my ankle. Pulling the boot and sock off, I saw that the skin around the ankle area was bruised purple and blue. Swelled up too. It was certainly bad but, since I could walk on it, it was only bruised.

I wrapped my ankle in whatever I could find: a torn up t-shirt. I didn't have time to elevate it or wrap it in ice for that matter. The boot probably wouldn't stretch to hold a thick ice pack.

Then I headed to the kitchen for food. Once I opened the refrigerator, I knew someone had been there. I guessed Eve, Xavier, and Cope due to the note left on the door. There were still a few things in there, so they _had _been thinking of me.

There were a few slices of bread, rolls, eggs, milk, oranges, butter, cheese, fruit cups, and even chocolate. I stuffed the bread, oranges, and fruit cups in my big duffle bag. The chocolate, I stuffed in my mouth, and the eggs I began frying on a pan.

They had rummaged through the pantry too. I took what was left: granola bars, chips, water bottles, canned vegies and fruits, dried fruits, and cereal. Once I zipped the bag up, I felt a change in the air.

"Oh shit," I said, running to the burnt eggs. I flipped them over and added a little seasoning, which made them look even more disgusting. I added cheese and put it on a plate. Now it looked slightly better.

"Bon appetit," I muttered. Hungrily, I grabbed the eggs in my fingers and just as I was about to eat them a gunshot rang out. I jumped, dropping the plate, and whirled around to see an Unconsecrated fall dead to the ground. A boy stood behind it, lowering his gun. It was Seth. Instincts brought my gun out and pointed it at him. "What the hell are you doing here!"

Seth raised his hands in surrender. "I saw the lights on in here. So I came to investigate." He stepped forward. "Lacuna, I'm sorry… I was drunk, you see. I didn't mean to hurt you…"

"Shut up!" I yelled. I didn't want any of his excuses. "Are you infected? Were you bitten?"

He shook his head. "No…I…" He whistled and a Rottweiler came trotting in. He petted her/him and it rubbed lovingly against him. I kept my gun raised. "This here is Lola," he said. "I found her alone on the streets. She's a sweetheart." Lola barked in response.

I lowered the gun into my waistband, wondering if dogs could turn Unconsecrated. "Okay, well, I'm leaving." I gestured toward the pantry. "Take what you want. There's not much left." I brushed past him to the door.

"Wait," he said. "Where are you going?"

"To Roman. There's a refugee camp there."

"Wait, wait, wait. Roman is hours away…"

"Great."

"…by car. And days walking. There's no way you'll make it there on foot. Not with all those critters running 'round. You'll die, trying."

I shrugged and walked out the house. "I'll find a car. There's plenty 'round 'ere." I felt Seth following me.

"I bet you don't even know how to start one," he said. I paused-he was right, I didn't know how to start a car. Great. Just great. I had a hint this was part of his ploy.

"Do you know how to start one?" I asked. He nodded. _Of course. _I groaned. "Fine then. You and your puppy can tag along. But only on one condition: you have to pull your own weight without my help. I don't care if it's food or medicine or weapons… Just, come on."

Seth went and took the stuff left in my house and then we were off. We found a pretty decent car and Seth easily started the car without any difficulty. We argued about who would drive. In the end, his "you could sleep" phrase won me over. I slept in the back with my gun right by my side.

And there we were, us three, driving to paradise.


	15. Chapter 15

"We're out of gas." Was the first thing Seth said after the first few miles.

"What?"

"We're out of gas," he repeated.

I slapped my forehead in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me. Why weren't you watching the meter!" I slapped my forehead again.

We were on a silent, vacant road in the middle of nowhere. Trees surrounded either side of us looming dark and gloomy. They clouded the sunlight above. There were no other vehicles in sight except for a broken up bicycle.

"How far are we away from Roman?" I asked him when he didn't answer.

He shrugged. "Maybe 15, 20 klicks." I gave him a questioning look. "You know, like 10 to 15 miles."

I almost shot myself. "You've _got_to be kidding me. 10 miles?"

"Or 15."

I pressed my gun against the back of his head. "You… I should kill you right now."

Lola barked. I ignored her.

"Whoa. Hold on. You need me, so lower that gun. If you shoot me, Lola will be on you in a second." The Rottweiler continued barking. "So I suggest you lower that gun. Now."

Grumbling, I lowered it. "So how-"

Suddenly, the car shook. I toppled to the side then steadied myself. I peered out the window to see a huge, bulky Unconsecrated rear back and slam into Seth's window for a second time.

"Get out, get out, get out!" I screamed, opening the back door, stumbling out. Lola jumped in the back and followed me. "No!" I screamed as she leaped at the burly man. She latched onto his neck with her powerful jaws but he just tossed her away and smashed his fist through the window, latching on to Seth's struggling figure.

I pulled out my gun and shot the man in the chest. He-it didn't falter. Instead, he began leaning his head at Seth's flailing leg; mouth wide open revealing black gums and rigged teeth worn out from gnawing on human flesh.

I pulled out the Taser and aimed it straight at It's chest, then pulled. The man started spazzing as the dart-electrodes connected. It let go of Seth and fell to the ground, shocked. Quickly, I ran to it and shot two bullets through its head. Then I turned to Seth, who was climbing out the window.

"There's a door, you know," I said. He mhm-ed. "Do I get a thank you?"

"Thank you," he said while brushing glass off his clothes.

"Let's get out of here." I glanced down at his torn pants with streaks of blood. "There might be others on their way."

"Where's Lola?"

_God, I forgot all about her._"Uh…she's..." I spotted fur a few feet behind Seth. "There she is!" I pointed to her. Seth turned around and happily petted Lola, who was A-Okay. In return, she barked happily and wagged her tail. "Okay, time to go," I interrupted.

We got all our supplies from the car and headed off down the street, casting wary glances at the surrounding trees. We both held our guns tight to our sides and stayed alerted for any of Lola's rapid barking.

A few hours later, after walking mile after mile _while_carrying a ten pound bag _and after_walking on a bruised ankle we arrived at a rest stop by the highway. The sun was heading down and we were in the middle of nowhere with no cars in sight. The rest stop loomed dark and threatening by the surrounding trees. It was pretty big, for a rest stop, that is.

The front of it was tall and entirely glass that curved down to connect with brick lining. Though the lights were off inside, I spotted a brief, small flash of light. It vaguely resembled fire, but I wasn't sure from this distance.

"Wait," I said as Seth started his way toward it. He halted immediately. "Did you see that?"

"See what..." he asked.

I rolled my eyes. "There was a light."

"Great. That means Tinker Bell came flying from her home in search of discovering human nature and is now currently eating some delicious skittles from the candy fountain and is using her fairy dust to light up the way inside and is waiting for-"

"Stop. Just. Shut. Up."

"But I was just-"

"No. Anyone could be in there. Any_thing._"

"Yeah, and I'm betting an Unconsecrated started that fire cause they're _that_smart. And yes, I'd rather walk in the dark than sleep inside an awfully comfortable Rest Stop while some human party's happening inside without the company of a few tired, exposed, vulnerable humans that could have a little break and a little party. So yes, let's keep enjoying our walk in the dark."

I sighed, realizing he was right. "Okay, we'll check it out. But be on guard."

His face erupted into happiness and he took out his gun, as did I, and headed toward the rest stop. Seth tried to open the door, but it was locked from the inside.

"How are we gonna get in?" I whispered. Seth waved his hand to my right where a high, but open, window perched. I watched as he walked over to it then signaled me over.

"I'll boost you up there," he said, making a flat platform with his hands. ", and then you'll help pull me up."

I nodded and after dropping the duffle bag I quickly lodged my foot into his hands. My body didn't have time to brace for the push. One second I was putting my gun into my pocket and the next I was soaring like an eagle through the air.

The air pushed against me and I halted in mid-air, then gravity was pulling me down. My arm lashed out and grabbed onto the window ledge, searching for a secure grip. I swung my other arm up. Using all my upper body strength I hauled my weight up and through the window, dropping down onto a toilet.

After steadying myself on it, I peeked down the window where Seth was eagerly waiting for me. He threw up my bag first and I easily caught it in the air, plopping it onto the stall floor. Then he threw up his own and I did the same. But still, he couldn't throw himself up that far and there was no way I could reach him from this height.

Good thing I had previous experiences with the lack of rope. I mentally thanked myself and pulled out a long piece of rope from my bag. I pulled Seth and Lola up and shut the window behind us.

"Let's go," he said.

I followed him out the restroom and into the huge rest stop hall. We checked all the rooms, which took almost a half hour, even separately, and then exchanged the results: no life.

"Did you check the Pizza Shack?" He asked me.

I shook my head. "No. You?"

He shook his head and began walking toward the Shack. I followed quietly. I didn't notice Lola wasn't present. She must have ran off.

Before we even got there we saw a faint glow of light, the same one I'd seen from outside, but there were no voices. I held my gun protectively in front of me, ready for what was to come. We stopped at the Pizza Shack door. To either side of the door were translucent windows. The door, to no surprise, was locked.

"I'm going to kick it down," Seth said. He brought his right leg up and forcefully kicked the door open. It swung outward with a bang. We surged inside, searching the area for any Unconsecrated or any humans for that matter. There were none.

I was about to curse when cold metal pressed against the back of my head.


	16. Chapter 16

"Drop your weapons," a gruff voice said from behind me. I glanced out of the corner of my eye to see Seth held gunpoint by a woman. "I said. Drop. Your. Weapons."

Seth slowly lowered his gun to the floor but I kept a hold of mine.

"We're not here to harm you," I said. "We're just looking for a place to stay. The real enemy is out there. There's no need to fight." I was too tired anyway. "Please."

I felt the man hesitate then he said, "Put your gun down first."

My gun was halfway to the ground when Lola came charging into the room. She barked menacingly and sunk her teeth into my captor. The Rottweiler thrashed her head around wildly, bringing him down. He cried out in pain and tried to shoot her but lost his grip on the gun. I quickly grabbed it. Mistakenly, the lady turned her attention away from Seth and he quickly disarmed her, pinning her against the wall.

"Lola, down!" Seth yelled.

She obediently released the man but continued growling.

The man scurried away from the dog but I aimed my gun at him and he stilled.

"Please, don't shoot," he said, sweat beading down he forehead. "We're sorry. Please."

"Who are you?" I asked.

"We're just civilians," he answered. "And you?"

"You shouldn't be asking questions when you've got a gun aimed at your head," I snapped. "Where'd you get the guns?"

The lady, who had been quiet, piped up. "Treys dad is a police officer. We got them from his house right after we heard about the infection on the news. We don't want any trouble. We're just trying to be careful."

"Too careful," Seth muttered.

"You shouldn't be pointing guns at our heads when we're not the monsters," I snapped. "We're not infected. Are you?"

"No," Trey said. "Please don't throw us out there. We'll be dead in a second."

I grunted. "Fine, but on one circumstance: We keep the guns."

(^._.^)

Moments later my mouth was stuffed with the most delicious, greasy, cheesy pizza I'd ever tasted. As was my stomach. I'd never eaten anything so delicious, considering what I'd been eating for the past few days. Seth, Lola, and I had consumed two large boxes of pizza by ourselves and I was already wanting more.

We'd pushed the tables and chairs against the walls to form an empty circle in the middle. Actually, I just sat and tended to my injury. Then I ordered Seth to sweep the floor which was covered in pizza and chip crumbs and other things I couldn't identify. Trey and Tina obediently helped and were cooperating so far, especially with Lola staring them down.

I like Lola more than I did Seth.

Seth came walking out from some bathrooms in the Shack and plopped down next to me. "How's your ankle doing?"

"It's fine," I said, scooting away. He scooted closer.

"What have they been doing?" He motioned to Trey and Tina, talking where we couldn't hear them.

I shrugged. "Nothing. The same."

"I wonder what they're talking 'bout. Maybe my handsomeness."

I snorted. "Then I'm sure it's their lack of brains or maybe they are really infected."

"Maybe they're talking about you."

"Why would they be talking about me?"

"Cause I would be. When I saw you I didn't think you were the kick-ass type. I thought you were just a beautiful, lame, girl.

_Beautiful… _

"That was until I heard about you nearly killing one of the scouts. Even then, I didn't believe it. But you escaped and you survived. And I… I was so stupid for… Look," Seth turned to me. "I know things have been bad between us but I really want you to know I'm sorry and I really wish I could turn the clock back. I never wanted to hurt you. It was just hard seeing you locked up in a cell like that on your _dad's _orders and I know I shouldn't have ever left you behind. I care about you more than you can imagine. More than I've ever cared about anyone else. You don't have to believe me, but it will always be you."

"This isn't going to…" I began but was silenced by a kiss.

Seth pressed his still greasy lips against mine and cupped my face in his hands. I was even more stunned when I found myself kissing him back. I closed my eyes, running my tongue over his lip. He tasted so good, I never wanted it to end but he pulled away before I did.

Slowly I sat back; my eyes still closed, and took a deep breath.

"I never said you could do that," I whispered when I finally found my voice.

"You also never said I couldn't," he responded.

"I have a gun."

"And I was ninety-nine percent sure you wouldn't use that on me."

I punched him in the arm.

"Ow." Seth rubbed his shoulder, looking more surprised than hurt. "What was that for?"

"The one percent."

He grinned and began to speak but Tina cut him off. "Can I get something to drink?" She said from the other side of the circle. Her black hair stood up in various places from being forced against the wall and a slither of her tan belly showed under her shirt. After Seths kiss I'd forgotten all about them.

I opened my mouth to answer. "Of course." I said out of sympathy since she was expecting a baby. If she died, the baby would too.

I watched her struggle to stand then get pushed back down by Trey. He said, "I'll get it," and walked towards the kitchen, which wasn't a separate room but a space enclosed by a long counter. We could watch his every move.

"What were you going to say?" I asked Seth, peeling my eyes away from Trey.

He chuckled. "Well, you know, I was the one to stop first…"

"Oh so you're saying I _liked _that? Cause I surely didn't." Except I did.

"Don't lie. I know you did. You're a sloppy kisser though, like you haven't had any practice." His eyes widened. "Am I your first kiss?!"

Blushing, I looked away. "Of course not, that would be ridiculous. I don't know why you would think that."

Seth pressed closer. "So when was your first kiss?"

"Why are you asking all these questions? My first kiss was when I was born. My mom loved me very-" I choked, realizing what I was saying. Tears stabbed at my eyes, clouding my vision. I quickly rubbed them away so Seth couldn't see. But he did anyway.

"Are you okay?" he asked, placing his hand on my thigh. A stray tear ran down my cheek and plopped down onto his hand. He made no move to wipe it away. I stuffed my head into his shirt and sobbed slowly, feeling a little guilty for soaking his shirt.

Before I could think twice about it I heard someone shout then scream. I looked up just in time to see a very dead zombie emerge from the fridge and sink its teeth into Treys neck.


	17. Chapter 17

Tina screamed, catching the attention of the infected. A chunk of skin was ripped from Treys neck as it stumbled towards Tina. Blood gushed out of the wound in alarming amounts as Trey dropped lifelessly to the cold floor.

Instinctively, I drew out my gun and aimed at its head, but the bullet sank into its shoulder instead. I fired again but the gun clicked; empty.

"Shit," I said.

Seth lurched for the guns in his bag but there wasn't enough time; the infected was a few steps away from a frozen Tina. I sprinted forward and knocked the butt of the gun across its head, making it trip backwards. And then the momentum lurched me forward.

I screamed as I landed right beside the fallen Unconsecrated. My head slammed forcefully into the hard ground. Swirling stars clouded my vision, maybe even a little tweedy bird.

A heavy weight pushed down on my stomach and a horrid stench filled my nose. My eyes slowly cleared only to see the infecteds' gnashing teeth coming closer and closer. I wriggled under him but the weight was too much with my arms pinned by my side. The rotting teeth came closer.

I closed my eyes and waited for the teeth to sink into my flesh and tear and my throat. And waited….and waited….

"Lacuna." I felt Seth's hand on my shoulder.

"Seth," I whispered before opening my eyes. The Unconsecrated lay a few feet away from me, greenish blood pooling around its head. Its eyes were open and they were staring straight at me.

I turned away and threw my arms around Seth. "Thank you," I said, my voice muffled by his shirt. I turned my attention away from him to Tina; kneeling over Trey.

Trey was still alive. But barely. A large pool of blood had gathered below him, staining Tina's clothes and hands. She sobbed over him, dropping tears onto his grimy cheek. Trey stretched out an arm and touched Tina lightly on the belly.

"Name her…Name her…La…Lac…" His breathing stopped, his arm dropped with a thud to the floor.

Tina's sobs became harsher as she grieved over his death. Seth looked at me and I nodded, grabbing Tina by the arm. She willingly walked away with me to the other side of the cafeteria.

"Shh, shhh." I whispered. "It's going to be…."

I heard a sickening wet squelch, halting my words. Tina cried harder in my arms. All I could do was pat her back.

"We've got to go." Seth's voice was edged with worry. "All that blood… I'm not sure if they can smell it from here but we might as well assume the worst."

"We should wait until tomorrow," I suggested.

Seth shook his head. "By then we'll be surrounded. And surrounded means dead."

I frowned. "But it's so dark outside. And if we use flashlights they'll swarm us like moths."

"Then we don't use flashlights."

"But how-"

"We'll use the dark to our advantage." Seth's voice was stern; the argument was over.

"It's also our disadvantage," I muttered so he couldn't hear. He walked away and began gathering our things as well as the edible food in the cafeteria. I turned to Tina, who had gone quiet. "Do you have a change of clothes? We don't want the smell of blood on you."

She nodded and left to change.

Hesitantly, I walked over to Seth. I wasn't sure if the tension between us had decimated.

"Hey," I said. It seemed like he was finished packing since he was leaning back in a chair eating another slice of pizza. I wondered how he could eat after that. My own stomach twisted at the sight of food.

"Hello," he muttered. Seth shoved the last piece of pizza into his mouth. "Next time, don't go doing a stunt like that. Even though you can kick ass, I know you're know to this fighting dojo thing. So think before you act."

Anger shot through me and I swear my face was as red as a tomato. "I was thinking, mind you. I was thinking that if I didn't kill that zombie then it would kill Tina. So you should be thanking me for saving a life. And don't boss me around! I am not in a cell ANYMORE!"

Seth's face softened. "I just can't live if something happens to you. I don't want you to get hurt, _mon ange_." He stood up and positioned himself an inch from me. I expected him to kiss me, I wanted him too. But instead he mocked, "You might want to change those clothes."

My clothes were actually smeared with blood; enough to attract a crowd of infected. I turned away angrily, muttering a few curses on the way, and shuffled through my bag.

I quickly found a decent shirt, jeans, and a sweatshirt just in case it was chilly, and changed quickly in the bathroom. Tina was all washed up and changed too and she'd stopped crying completely but her eyes were puffy and red. Dry tears were plastered to her saddened face yet she made no move to wipe them off. Her sorrow hung thickly in the air.

I felt bad for her; she had lost her last family member left. I wish I could've changed the outcome, not only hers but everybody's. Maybe I shouldn't have been so selfish to not sacrifice myself for the entire world. I could've saved them all.

"Ready?" Seth said, pulling me from my regret.

I nodded and clutched my hands in his.

"I took a look up front and it's bad. There are at least 30. Maybe even more."

"Is there a back door?" I asked.

Seth nodded. "In the storage room. But there are at least 5 out there."

"We can handle them."

"I know." He said it with a lack of confidence, as if he worried about something else. "Come on, let's get moving."

Tina, Lola, and I followed him into the large storage room that contained at least a million boxes and a low humming generator. There was a closed truck garage at the end, alongside a door.

Seth approached it cautiously and looked out its small, embedded window. I didn't know how he could see anything in the dark.

"I can barely see," Seth said, as if reading my mind. "But there's something moving out there for sure."

"Maybe it's the wind," I suggested.

Seth shook his head. "It's much bigger than that. We'll have to be fast." Seth was addressing Tina. Then to me: "No guns unless _absolutely _necessary. Our main advantage here is stealth. And no barking Lola."

Lola growled in response and Seth turned to the door.

I quickly thought of what Seth had said to me before and turned to Tina. "Do you know what _mon ange _means?"

Tina nodded. "It means: my angel."


	18. Chapter 18

_Two days later…._

(^._.^)

"Maybe we should rest-"

Tina collapsed to the ground before Seth could finish. I plopped down beside her, handing her a bottle of water.

"Thanks," she said, out of breath.

I took of few sips of my own water and walked over to Seth. We'd been continuously walking and running,with short breaks, for awhile, and we were all exhausted. From forest to road, and forest back again. Our food and water supply were running low, since we'd sacrificed most of it for Tina, and I was worried that we should have arrived at Roman by now.

"Are you sure we aren't lost?" I asked Seth.

He shook his head. "For the hundredth time, we are not lost."

"And what makes you so sure?"

"Well, we're supposed to keep the sun on our right shoulder right now, which means we're still on the right path to Roman."

I looked up at the sky. _Hmm.._

"Hey, Seth, do me a favor." I said.

"Yea?"

"Look, up."

Seth looked up and all the blood drained from his face. He shifted his weight to his other foot and grinned sheepishly at me.

Anger flared through me. Newsflash: Never travel with someone who has no sense of direction what. So. Ever. "You know what, Seth? You. Really. Are. A. Dumbass." I said between kicks. "How did you not notice the sun was right in front of us?!"

"Erm... Well, the trees and stuff..."

It took everything I had not to drop kick him. "Whatever. I'm taking the lead." Ignoring Seth's apologies, I trudged over to Tina and helped her up.

"We're leaving already?" she asked.

I nodded. "It seems like we're headed in the wrong direction, so who knows how much ground we've got left to cover."

Tina sighed but nodded.

Once again, we headed out; Me and Lola in the lead, Tina behind us, and that idiot Seth, taking up the rear.

**(^._.^)**

"Are we there yeeeet?" Seth whined.

"No you dummy!" I yelled, kicking him in his stomach. He lurched backwards and fell to the ground. We continued walking.

"Ow! What'd you do that for?" Clutching his stomach, Seth stood up and scurried after us.

"Why do you think!? You're the one that got us off track. So quit whining and hurry up! Tina is going faster than your ass!"

He muttered something under his breath.

"What did you say?!" I yelled, hitting him again.

"Nothing, nothing!"

"Hey," Tina said.

"Hm?"

She pointed at something. I followed her finger to see we'd stumbled out of the woods and were at a wide river. Great.

"How are we supposed to get past that?" Seth exclaimed.

I mentally punched him for being such an idiot. "Have you ever heard of this one thing called a bridge?"

He looked at me as I pointed at the bridge, about half a mile or so away, to our right. There were shops and houses on the other side. "Oh. But shouldn't we avoid cities?"

I shrugged. "I guess. But Roman is that way. And who knows, maybe none of Them are there."

"Fine." Seth humphed.

"We should wait until morning," Tina said.

I nodded, thinking the same thing. The sun was setting and light was dimming fast.

We set up camp quickly, a little triangle of blankets. Night fell, and Tina was the first one to fall asleep. I sat on a log, waiting for Seth to come back from "taking a leak". I was nodding in an out of sleep when something touched my shoulder. Jumping, I whirled around, but it was only Seth. My shoulders relaxed.

"Sorry for startling you," he said. I sat down on the log. "Are you tired?"

"No," I said, yawning. One of his eyebrows raised.

"I'll take first watch, L."

_L?_I quickly obliged, too tired to argue, and nestled myself into the soft cotton.

"Good night, _mon ange,_" Seth whispered.

(^._.^)

A menacing sound was the first thing to wake me up. Scrambling out of my blankets, I checked to make sure everything was A-okay. The sun was starting to show itself, and birds were beginning their non ending chirps. Tina seemed to be doing alright in her slumber too. Everything was fine except the fact that Seth was lying stone-cold on the ground. The problem with that was that no one was on watch. Hmm.

"Seth," I said quietly, leaving Tina undisturbed. I called his name a couple more times but he still didn't get up. Frustrated, I kicked him. Hard. It worked, as I thought it would. Seth jumped up, startled, and swayed side to side from the abrupt movement. Then he finally noticed I was there.

"Oheeeey," he slurred. "Ouch." He patted his ribs where I kicked him. I smiled triumphantly.

"Hey, how was your sleep?"

Seth gave me a puzzling no-way-she-cares-about-me look. "It was-"

I cut him off. "Because you weren't supposed to fall asleep during your watch."

"Errr..."

"Errr, nothing." I rattled off to him for five minutes about what could have happened and what I was going to do to him later. "So next time you decide to take a nap, remember you're putting my life _and_ Tina's _and _her baby's life in danger. Get it?"

"Uh huh."

"Got it?"

"Roger."

"Good." I ordered Seth to wake up Tina and we set out across the bridge.

The town was quiet, which kind of creeped me out. It was like watching a horror movie all over again. Except we were in it. The street we were walking on was bare save for rolling trash bags and stuff, which made it even more creepy. We walked quietly for a while, alert at every sound. The good thing was there weren't any unconsecrated around yet, thank God. I let Seth take the lead since he knew the geography of the town better than I.

After about 15 minutes of walking we came upon a big grocery store: Skreepers Mart. The S was hanging off so it looked like Kreepers Mart instead. Ha. I was about to pipe up about checking it out but Seth beat me to it.

"Think we should go inside?" he asked, looking back at me.

I thought it over. "Maybe not. It's too big. There could be loads of Them inside."

"Lola doesn't sense anything."

He was right. Lola hadn't barked or growled since we'd entered the town.

"Fine," I said. "But Tina and I will keep watch out here."

Seth rolled his eyes, I frowned. "Wooow, bailing out again. Scaredy cat."

My frown deepened. "I'm not 'bailing out again', whatever you mean by 'again'. I'm keeping watch outside. Would you rather me leave Tina alone by herself?"

"Of course not. But you could go in and I could keep watch outside with Tina."

"Now _you _seem like you're the one bailing out. Scaredy cat."

Seth let out a laugh. I bit my lip to keep back a smile.

"Okay," Seth said, still chuckling. "Since you're such a scaredy cat I'll go inside with un-scaredy cat Lola." He emphasized this by patting Lola on the back.

"Whatever." I crossed my arms over my chest and slightly turned away.

"What? No 'Be careful' or maybe, 'don't get killed' or maybe even a goodbye kiss?"

I felt myself going red as Seth laughed again. He just had to bring that up again. _Jerk. _"Just hurry up. Get in and out," I said, pulling my gun out.

"Yeah, yeah, okay." Seth and Lola walked off toward the store and, with on last glance, disappeared inside.

I sighed and walked over to Tina, who was sitting down. I realized that, in fact, I wanted Seth to come back.

_They're taking too long, _I thought, after fifteen minutes had gone by. What part of 'in and out' did he not understand? A part of me was urging to go inside, but Seth knew how to handle himself. Kind of. After minutes of contemplating I decided to take a peek inside the store. I ushered Tina along, who hated the idea of moving, and opened the Skeepers Mart door.

The inside of the store was dark. Very dark. It took a while for my eyes to adjust and make out a few things: toppled shelves, shopping carts, boxes of food, etc. I couldn't see anything beyond that.

"Do you smell that?" Tina whispered beside me.

I almost jumped; I didn't know she was so close to me. "What?" I asked, sniffing. I noticed there was something foul in the air, but it could have been anything.

"I know that smell. It's beef jerky."

"Beef jerky?"

She didn't answer.

I returned to searching the darkness for Seth and Lola but five minutes passed and there was nothing but silence. Then after six minutes, it came. A bark.

"Dammit!" I said, knowing a bark meant trouble. I told Tina to back away from the door and leaned into the store._ 1...2...3...4..._I counted. Another bark, and closer this time. I squinted and finally saw two figures- Lola and Seth- in the distance. I smiled happily, knowing they were okay, until I noticed they were running. And they weren't alone.

**Hi. So I think you shouldn't be lazy and you should review. Mhm, you know what I'm talking bout... No... keep reading this... No don't click that! wuhevah. **

**P.S. : idek **


	19. Chapter 19

**Hehehe, here goes chapter 19. Sorry for the wait. **

* * *

><p>"Go, run!" I heard Seth yell, but I was already moving. I grabbed Tina's arm, ushering her to go faster, but she had her limits.<p>

"Dammit," I cursed. I looked back to see Seth and Lola trailing us and the unconsecrated not too far behind. I estimated that there were at least fifty unconsecrated, possibly more. They weren't moving that fast, considering some had only one leg or missing feet, but at the rate we were moving, they would eventually catch up.

"I'll divert them," I heard Seth say beside me. "You get somewhere safe. I'll catch up to you later."

Before I could argue, he and Lola ran off in a different direction. I watched Seth shoot off his gun and the unconsecrated started stumbling after him. We turned into a deserted neighborhood, cutting Seth from our sight. A few of the unconsecrated had continued trailing us but I quickly got rid of them. Tina and I slowed to a stop, exhausted, but safe. There was only the quiet after that.

* * *

><p>We lodged in a small house in the neighborhood. Tina rested while I boarded up windows and checked every room of the house. Luckily, we found plenty of food and water someone had left and snacked on that.<p>

There was still no sign of Seth or Lola as night fell so we decided to wait there for them. My worry grew as the hours passed by and there was still no sign of them. I contemplated on searching for them, but then I couldn't leave Tina alone. All we could do was wait. I stayed awake and watched while Tina slept and before I knew it the sun had risen.

I let Tina sleep for a few more hours while I packed up on supplies. We needed everything we could get. Walking around the house, I made sure we collected anything valuable.

Food, water, and spray paint, which gave me an idea. I also found, to my fortune, I found a detailed map of the surrounding areas. Studying it, I found out the town we were in was named Hailville, so classic, and we were headed in the right direction.

Roman was a small dot on the map around 20 miles away. I recalled Seth saying 10-15. Sighing, I stuffed the map into my pocket and stepped back into the living room where we were camping to find Tina awake. She groggily rubbed her eyes and looked up at me as I entered the room.

"Are they back yet?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No, but we can't wait here forever. It's too risky. I found a map. Roman is about 20 miles away. It's probably a 7 hour walk, at the least. But since you're..." I hesitated on saying slow, "pregnant, and with all the danger, it might take up to two days.

She nodded reluctantly but complied. We gathered up our belongings and with one final check, left the house. Outside, not on unconsecrated was around, bringing me relief and worry. I assumed most, if not all, had been in that store and had followed Seth. More danger for him, but less for us. Sighing, I began to walk.

An hour passed, and then maybe two, and I felt that we'd barely made any progress. To my unrest, Tina's handicap was weighing her done, much more than I thought it would. We'd made it out of Hailville and were traveling along an abandoned country road alongside an eerie forest.

We'd passed a car, which gave me great joy until I realized it was out of gas. A few unconsecrated had stumbled out of the forest, startling us, but I'd dispatched them quickly.

Aside from that, we'd been traveling safely, but slowly.

"Can we rest just a lit-" Tina said but was cut off by a faint, humming noise. I paused, turning my head behind me to see a faint outline in the distance. Without thinking I grabbed Tina, pulling her behind the treeline so we were out of sight. The car came closer and closer but instead of passing by, it stopped on the road right in front of us.

"Who is it?" Tina whispered behind me. I put a finger to my lips and silenced her. A figure stepped out of the car, a man as far as I could see. I squinted through the sunlight until I could make out the lone figure studying my paint marks on the ground. A huge smile lit up my face and I stepped out from the brush, sprinting to him.

"Seth!" I said excitedly, wrapping my arms around him. I felt tears of joy spring to my eyes as I hugged him. The whole time we were separated I'd been doubting my feelings of longing for him but now I finally realized.

"Woah, woah," he said, stumbling back. His arms went around me, making me smile. "You okay?"

I drew back suddenly and hit him in the chest. "What do you mean am I okay? Are _you _okay? What were you thinking, going off like that? Don't do that again. If you do I'll-" I stopped, frozen, as he pressed his lips against mine. I didn't try to hold back this time and returned his kiss. It was a gesture of passion, but also of reunion and relief. We stayed there for a while until Seth drew back.

"Are you just going to stand there and scold me?" he asked, taking me by the hand. I looked down at the ground and apologized, earning a laugh from him. "I'm just kidding. It's true, that was pretty reckless of me, but it was for you. We're fine, you see. And we're together again thanks to your excellent painting. Now go get in the car. You must be tired. Where's Tina?"

"Psh," I said, motioning towards the car. Tina had already snuck in situated and herself in the back near Lola who was happily sticking her tongue out at me. "Let's go."

We hopped in the car and Seth began driving.

"You know where we're going?" he asked.

I nodded, smiling, and pulled out the map.

* * *

><p><strong>So thank you, my worthy followers, favoriters, readers, etc, of my story for reading this crappy story and staying with me all the way. You know who you are. (Anyone?) <strong>

**Any who, please leave lovely reviews. They don't have to be long, maybe a word or two would be sufficient, but thank you for reading this! Arigato gunsymas! (~'v')~**


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